The Native Races [of the Pacific states], Volume 1, Wild Tribes

732

'They are sufficiently astute in dealing.' Burnet, in Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. i., p. 232. 'Le chef des Indiens choisit, parmi ces objets, ceux qui sont nécessaires à sa tribu.' Soc. Géog., Bulletin, série v., No. 96, p. 193. 'In Comanche trade the main trouble consists in fixing the price of the first animal. This being settled by the chiefs.' Gregg's Com. Prairies, vol. ii., p. 45; Parker's Notes on Tex., pp. 190, 234; Burnet, in Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. i., p. 232; Domenech, Jour., p. 130; Dewees' Texas, p. 36.

733

Mr Bartlett, describing an excursion he made to the Sierra Waco near the Copper Mines in New Mexico, says, he saw 'an overhanging rock extending for some distance, the whole surface of which is covered with rude paintings and sculptures, representing men, animals, birds, snakes, and fantastic figures … some of them, evidently of great age, had been partly defaced to make room for more recent devices.' Bartlett's Pers. Nar., vol. i., pp. 170-4, with cuts. In Arizona, Emory found 'a mound of granite boulders … covered with unknown characters… On the ground nearby were also traces of some of the figures, showing some of the hieroglyphics, at least, to have been the work of modern Indians.' Emory's Reconnoissance, pp. 89, 90, with cut. The Comanches 'aimaient beaucoup les images, qu'ils ne se lassaient pas d'admirer.' Domenech, Jour., p. 136.

734

'The Apaches count ten thousand with as much regularity as we do. They even make use of the decimal sequences.' Cremony's Apaches, p. 237.

735

'They have no computation of time beyond the seasons … the cold and hot season … frequently count by the Caddo mode – from one to ten, and by tens to one hundred, &c… They are ignorant of the elements of figures.' Neighbors, in Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. ii., pp. 129-30. 'Ce qu'ils savent d'astronomie se borne à la connaissance de l'étoile polaire… L'arithmétique des sauvages est sur leurs doigts; … Il leur faut absolument un objet pour nombrer.' Hartmann and Millard, Tex., pp. 112-13.

736

The Navajos have no tribal government, and in reality no chiefs. Letherman, in Smithsonian Rept., 1855, p. 288. 'Their form of government is so exceedingly primitive as to be hardly worthy the name of a political organization.' Davis' El Gringo, pp. 412, 413; Ives' Colorado Riv., p. 71. 'Ils n'ont jamais connu de domination.' Soc. Géog., Bulletin, série. v., No. 96, p. 187. 'Each is sovereign in his own right as a warrior.' Cremony's Apaches, p. 177.

737

'It is my opinion that the Navajo chiefs have but very little influence with their people.' Bennett, in Ind. Aff. Rept., 1869, p. 238, and 1870, p. 152; Bristol, in Ind. Aff. Rept. Spec. Com., 1867, p. 357.

738

'Los padres de familia ejercen esta autoridad en tanto que los hijos no salen de la infancia, porque poco antes de salir de la pubertad son como libres y no reconocen mas superioridad que sus propias fuerzas, ó la del indio que los manda en la campaña.' Velasco, Noticias de Sonora, pp. 282-3. 'Every rich man has many dependants, and these dependants are obedient to his will, in peace and in war.' Backus, in Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. iv., p. 211; Ten Broeck, in Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. iv., p. 89. 'Every one who has a few horses and sheep is a "head man."' Letherman, in Smithsonian Rept., 1855, p. 288; Möllhausen, Reisen in die Felsengeb., tom. ii., p. 233. The rule of the Querechos is 'essentially patriarchal.' Marcy's Army Life, p. 20.

739

'When one or more (of the Navajos) are successful in battle or fortunate in their raids to the settlements on the Rio Grande, he is endowed with the title of captain or chief.' Bristol, in Ind. Aff. Rept., 1867, p. 357. 'En cualquiera de estas incorporaciones toma el mando del todo por comun consentimiento el mas acreditado de valiente.' Cordero, in Orozco y Berra, Geografía, p. 373. The Comanches have 'a right to displace a chief, and elect his successor, at pleasure.' Kennedy's Texas, vol. i., p. 346. A chief of the Comanches is never degraded 'for any private act unconnected with the welfare of the whole tribe.' Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. ii., p. 130.

740

The office of chief is not hereditary with the Navajos. Cremony's Apaches, p. 307. The wise old men of the Querechos 'curb the impetuosity of ambitious younger warriors.' Marcy's Army Life, p. 20. 'I infer that rank is (among the Mojaves), to some extent, hereditary.' Ives' Colorado Riv., pp. 67, 71. 'This captain is often the oldest son of the chief, and assumes the command of the tribe on the death of his father,' among the Apaches. Henry, in Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. v., p. 210.

741

The Mescaleros and Apaches 'choose a head-man to direct affairs for the time being.' Carleton, in Smithsonian Rept., 1854, p. 315. 'Es gibt auch Stämme, an deren Spitze ein Kriegs- sowie ein Friedens-Häuptling steht.' Armin, Das Heutige Mexiko, p. 279; García Conde, in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, tom. v., p. 315.

742

When Col. Langberg visited the Comanches who inhabit the Bolson de Mapimi, 'wurde dieser Stamm von einer alten Frau angeführt.' Froebel, Aus Amerika, tom. ii., p. 222; Id., Cent. Amer., p. 352; Hardy's Trav., p. 348. 'I have never known them (Comanches) to make a treaty that a portion of the tribe do not violate its stipulations before one year rolls around.' Neighbors, in Ind. Aff. Rept., 1857, p. 267.

743

The chiefs of the Comanches 'are in turn subject to the control of a principal chief.' Kennedy's Texas, vol. i., p. 345. 'La autoridad central de su gobierno reside en un gefe supremo.' Revista Científica, tom. i., p. 57; Escudero, Noticias de Chihuahua, p. 229. The southern Comanches 'do not of late years acknowledge the sovereignty of a common ruler and leader in their united councils nor in war.' Marcy's Army Life, p. 43. The Gila Apaches acknowledge 'no common head or superior.' Merriwether, in Ind. Aff. Rept., 1854, pp. 170, 172.

744

The Comanches 'hold regular councils quarterly, and a grand council of the whole tribe once a year.' Edward's Hist. Tex., p. 108. 'At these councils prisoners of war are tried, as well as all cases of adultery, theft, sedition and murder, which are punished by death. The grand council also takes cognizance of all disputes between the chiefs, and other matters of importance.' Maillard's Hist. Tex., p. 244. 'Their decisions are of but little moment, unless they meet the approbation of the mass of the people; and for this reason these councils are exceedingly careful not to run counter to the wishes of the poorer but more numerous class, being aware of the difficulty, if not impossibility, of enforcing any act that would not command their approval.' Collins, in Ind. Aff. Rept., 1857, p. 274. 'Singulis pagis sui Reguli erant, qui per praecones suos edicta populo denuntiabant.' De Laet, Novus Orbis, p. 311. 'Tienen otra Persona, que llaman Pregonero, y es la segunda Persona de la República; el oficio de este, es manifestar al Pueblo todas las cosas que se han de hacer.' Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., p. 337; Id., tom. i., p. 680. They recognize 'no law but that of individual caprice.' Steck, in Ind. Aff. Rept., 1863, p. 109. The Comanches 'acknowledge no right but the right of the strongest.' Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. v., p. 575. 'La loi du talion est la base fondamentale du code politique, civil et criminel de ces diverses peuplades, et cette loi reçoit une rigoureuse application de nation à nation, de famille à famille, d'individu à individu.' Hartmann and Millard, Tex., p. 114.

745

The Comanches punish 'Adultery, theft, murder, and other crimes … by established usage.' Kennedy's Texas, vol. i., p. 347. Among the Navajos, 'Lewdness is punished by a public exposure of the culprit.' Scenes in the Rocky Mts., p. 180. Marcy's Army Life, pp. 26, 59. Navajoes 'regard each other's right of property, and punish with great severity any one who infringes upon it. In one case a Navajo was found stealing a horse; they held a council and put him to death.' Bristol, in Ind. Aff. Rept. Spec. Com., 1867, p. 344. A Cuchano young boy who frightened a child by foretelling its death, which accidentally took place the next day, 'was secretly accused and tried before the council for "being under the influence of evil spirits,"' and put to death. Emory's Rept. U. S. and Mex. Boundary Survey, vol. i., p. iii.; Feudge, in Ind. Aff. Rept., 1868, p. 137. Among the Yumas, 'Each chief punishes delinquents by beating them across the back with a stick. Criminals brought before the general council for examination, if convicted, are placed in the hands of a regularly appointed executioner of the tribe, who inflicts such punishment as the council may direct.' Emory's Rept. U. S. and Mex. Boundary Survey, vol. i., p. iii.

746

The Apache chief Ponce, speaking of the grief of a poor woman at the loss of her son, says: 'The mother of the dead brave demands the life of his murderer. Nothing else will satisfy her… Would money satisfy me for the death of my son? No! I would demand the blood of the murderer. Then I would be satisfied.' Cremony's Apaches, p. 69. 'If one man (Apache) kills another, the next of kin to the defunct individual may kill the murderer – if he can. He has the right to challenge him to single-combat… There is no trial, no set council, no regular examination into the crime or its causes; but the ordeal of battle settles the whole matter.' Id., p. 293.

747

Domenech's Deserts, vol. ii., p. 7; Letherman, in Smithsonian Rept., 1855, p. 294. 'Ils (Comanches) tuent tous les prisonniers adultes, et ne laissent vivre que les enfans.' Dillon, Hist. Mex., p. 98. The Navajos 'have in their possession many prisoners, men, women, and children, … whom they hold and treat as slaves.' Bent, in Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. i., p. 244.

748

One boy from Mexico taken by the Comanches, said, 'dass sein Geschäft in der Gefangenschaft darin bestehe die Pferde seines Herrn zu weiden.' Froebel, Aus Amerika, tom. ii., p. 102; Gregg's Com. Prairies, vol. ii., p. 313. The natives of New Mexico take the women prisoners 'for wives.' Marcy's Rept., p. 187. Some prisoners liberated from the Comanches, were completely covered with stripes and bruises. Dewees' Texas, p. 232. Miss Olive Oatman detained among the Mohaves says: 'They invented modes and seemed to create necessities of labor that they might gratify themselves by taxing us to the utmost, and even took unwarranted delight in whipping us on beyond our strength. And all their requests and exactions were couched in the most insulting and taunting language and manner, as it then seemed, and as they had the frankness soon to confess, to fume their hate against the race to whom we belonged. Often under the frown and lash were we compelled to labor for whole days upon an allowance amply sufficient to starve a common dandy civilized idler.' Stratton's Capt. Oatman Girls, pp. 114-18, 130.

749

'It appeared that the poor girl had been stolen, as the Indian (Axua) said, from the Yuma tribe the day before, and he now offered her for sale.' Hardy's Trav., p. 379. 'The practice of parents selling their children is another proof of poverty' of the Axuans. Id., p. 371.

750

'According to their (Tontos') physiology the female, especially the young female, should be allowed meat only when necessary to prevent starvation.' Stratton's Capt. Oatman Girls, p. 115. The Comanches 'enter the marriage state at a very early age frequently before the age of puberty.' Neighbors, in Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. ii., p. 132. Whenever a Jicarilla female arrives at a marriageable age, in honor of the 'event the parents will sacrifice all the property they possess, the ceremony being protracted from five to ten days with every demonstration of hilarity.' Steck, in Ind. Aff. Rept., 1863, p. 109; Marcy's Army Life, p. 28-9. Among the Yumas, the applicant for womanhood is placed in an oven or closely covered hut, in which she is steamed for three days, alternating the treatment with plunges into the near river, and maintaining a fast all the time.' Emory's Rept. U. S. and Mex. Boundary Survey, vol. i., pp. 110-11. The Apaches celebrate a feast with singing, dancing, and mimic display when a girl arrives at the marriageable state, during which time the girl remains 'isolated in a huge lodge' and 'listens patiently to the responsibilities of her marriageable condition,' recounted to her by the old men and chiefs. 'After it is finished she is divested of her eyebrows… A month afterward the eye lashes are pulled out.' Cremony's Apaches, pp. 143, 243-6.

751

There is no marriage ceremony among the Navajoes 'a young man wishing a woman for his wife ascertains who her father is; he goes and states the cause of his visit and offers from one to fifteen horses for the daughter. The consent of the father is absolute, and the one so purchased assents or is taken away by force. All the marriageable women or squaws in a family can be taken in a similar manner by the same individual; i. e., he can purchase wives as long as his property holds out.' Bristol, in Ind. Aff. Rept. Spec. Com., 1867, p. 357; Marcy's Army Life, p. 49; Backus, in Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. iv., p. 214; Parker's Notes on Tex., p. 233.

752

Among the Apaches, the lover 'stakes his horse in front of her roost… Should the girl favor the suitor, his horse is taken by her, led to water, fed, and secured in front of his lodge… Four days comprise the term allowed her for an answer… A ready acceptance is apt to be criticised with some severity, while a tardy one is regarded as the extreme of coquetry.' Cremony's Apaches, pp. 245-9; Ten Broeck, in Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. iv., p. 89; Marcy's Army Life, pp. 30, 51. The Apache 'who can support or keep, or attract by his power to keep, the greatest number of women, is the man who is deemed entitled to the greatest amount of honor and respect.' Cremony's Apaches, pp. 44, 85. Un Comanche, 'peut épouser autant de femmes qu'il veut, à la seule condition de donner à chacune un cheval.' Domenech, Jour., p. 135. Among the Navajoes, 'The wife last chosen is always mistress of her predecessors.' Whipple, Ewbank, and Turner's Rept., p. 42, in Pac. R. R. Rept., vol. iii. They seldom, if ever, marry out of the tribe. Ward, in Ind. Aff. Rept. Spec. Com., 1867, p. 455. 'In general, when an Indian wishes to have many wives he chooses above all others, if he can, sisters, because he thinks he can thus secure more domestic peace.' Domenech's Deserts, vol. ii., p. 306. 'I think that few, if any, have more than one wife,' of the Mojaves. Ives' Colorado Riv., p. 71.

753

'The Navajo marriage-ceremony consists simply of a feast upon horse-flesh.' Palmer, in Harper's Mag., vol. xvii., p. 460. When the Navajos desire to marry, 'they sit down on opposite sides of a basket, made to hold water, filled with atole or some other food, and partake of it. This simple proceeding makes them husband and wife.' Davis' El Gringo, p. 415.

754

The Comanche women 'are drudges.' Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. v., p. 575; Dufey, Résumé de l'Hist., tom. i., p. 4; Neighbors, in Ind. Aff. Rept., 1857, p. 265; Escudero, Noticias de Chihuahua, p. 230; Bartlett's Pers. Nar., vol. i., p. 308. Labor is considered degrading by the Comanches. Kennedy's Texas, vol. i., p. 347. The Apache men 'no cuidan de otras cosas, sino de cazar y divertirse.' Sonora, Descrip. Geog., in Doc. Hist. Mex., serie iii., tom. iv., p. 563; Marcy's Army Life, pp. 29, 49, 56. 'La femme (du Comanche) son esclave absolue, doit tout faire pour lui. Souvent il n'apporte pas même le gibier qu'il a tué, mais il envoie sa femme le chercher au loin.' Dubuis, in Domenech, Jour., p. 459. The Navajos 'treat their women with great attention, consider them equals, and relieve them from the drudgery of menial work.' Hughes' Doniphan's Ex., p. 203. The Navajo women 'are the real owners of all the sheep… They admit women into their councils, who sometimes control their deliberations; and they also eat with them.' Davis' El Gringo, p. 412; Whipple, Ewbank, and Turner's Rept., p. 101., in Pac. R. R. Rept., vol. iii. 'De aquí proviene que sean árbitros de sus mugeres, dandoles un trato servilísimo, y algunas veces les quitan hasta la vida por celos.' Velasco, Noticias de Sonora, p. 268. 'Les Comanches, obligent le prisonnier blanc, dont ils ont admiré le valeur dans le combat, á s'unir aux leurs pour perpétuer sa race.' Fossey, Mexique, p. 462.

755

Among the Apaches, 'muchas veces suele disolverse el contrato por unánime consentimiento de los desposados, y volviendo la mujer á su padre, entrega este lo que recibió por ella.' Cordero. in Orozco y Berra, Geografía, p. 373. When the Navajo women abandon the husband, the latter 'asks to wipe out the disgrace by killing some one.' Ind. Aff. Rept. Spec. Com., 1867, p. 334; Eaton, in Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. iv., p. 217.

756

Navajo women, 'when in parturition, stand upon their feet, holding to a rope suspended overhead, or upon the knees, the body being erect.' Letherman, in Smithsonian Rept., 1855, p. 290. 'Previous to a birth, the (Yuma) mother leaves her village for some short distance and lives by herself until a month after the child is born; the band to which she belongs then assemble and select a name for the little one, which is given with some trivial ceremony.' Emory's Rept., vol. i., p. 110; Marcy's Army Life, p. 31. 'Si el parto es en marcha, se hacen á un lado del camino debajo de un árbol, en donde salen del lance con la mayor facilidad y sin apuro ninguno, continuando la marcha con la criatura y algun otro de sus chiquillos, dentro de una especie de red, que á la manera de una canasta cargan en los hombros, pendiente de la frente con una tira de cuero ó de vaqueta que la contiene, en donde llevan ademas alunos trastos ó cosas que comer.' Velasco, Noticias de Sonora, p. 281; Fossey, Mexique, p. 462. 'Luego que sale á luz esta, sale la vieja de aquel lugar con la mano puesta en los ojos, y no se descubre hasta que no haya dado una vuelta fuera de la casa, y el objeto que primero se le presenta á la vista, es el nombre que se le pone á la criatura.' Alegre, Hist. Comp. de Jesus, tom. i., p. 335.

757

Pattie's Pers. Nar., p. 92; Möllhausen, Reisen in die Felsengeb., tom. i., p. 320; Ives' Colorado River, pp. 66, 71; Henry, in Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. v., p. 211. 'Quand les Indiennes (Comanches) voyagent avec leurs enfants en bas âge, elles les suspendent à la selle avec des courroies qu'elles leur passent entre les jambes et sous les bras. Les soubresauts du cheval, les branches, les broussailles heurtent ces pauvres petits, les déchirent, les meurtrissent: peu importe, c'est une façon de les aguerrir.' Domenech, Journ. p. 135; Emory's Reconnoissance, p. 52. 'A la edad de siete años de los apaches, ó antes, lo primero que hacen los padres, es poner á sus hijos el carcax en la mano enseñándoles á tirar bien, cuya táctica empiezan á aprender en la caza.' Velasco, Noticias de Sonora, p. 283. The Apaches, 'juventutem sedulo instituunt castigant quod aliis barbaris insolitum.' De Laet, Novus Orbis, p. 316. Male children of the Comanches 'are even privileged to rebel against their parents, who are not entitled to chastise them but by consent of the tribe.' Kennedy's Texas, vol. i., p. 346-7. In fact a Navajo Indian has said, 'that he was afraid to correct his own boy, lest the child should wait for a convenient opportunity, and shoot him with an arrow.' Letherman, in Smithsonian Rept., 1855, p. 294.

758

Ind. Aff. Rept. Spec. Com., 1867, p. 354; Cremony's Apaches, p. 367; Möllhausen, Tagebuch, p. 399; Pattie's Pers. Nar., p. 119.

759

'The Navajo women are very loose, and do not look upon fornication as a crime.' Guyther, in Ind. Aff. Rept. Spec. Com., 1867, p. 339; Cremony's Apaches, p. 244. 'Prostitution is the rule among the (Yuma) women, not the exception.' Mowry, in Ind. Aff. Rept., 1857, p. 301; Froebel, Aus Amerika, tom. ii., p. 476; Browne's Apache Country, p. 96. 'Prostitution prevails to a great extent among the Navajoes, the Maricopas, and the Yuma Indians; and its attendant diseases, as before stated, have more or less tainted the blood of the adults; and by inheritance of the children.' Carleton, in Ind. Aff. Rept. Spec. Com., 1867, p. 433. Among the Navajoes, 'the most unfortunate thing which can befall a captive woman is to be claimed by two persons. In this case, she is either shot or delivered up for indiscriminate violence.' Emory's Reconnoissance, p. 50. The Colorado River Indians 'barter and sell their women into prostitution, with hardly an exception.' Safford, in Ind. Aff. Rept., 1870, p. 139. 'The Comanche women are, as in many other wild tribes, the slaves of their lords, and it is a common practice for their husbands to lend or sell them to a visitor for one, two, or three days at a time.' Marcy's Rept., p. 187; Arricivita, Crónica Seráfica, p. 419. 'Las faltas conyugales no se castigan por la primera vez; pero á la segunda el marido corta la punta de la nariz á su infiel esposa, y la despide de su lado.' Revista Científica, vol. i., p. 57; Soc. Géog., Bulletin, série v., No. 96, p. 192. 'The squaw who has been mutilated for such a cause, is ipso facto divorced, and, it is said, for ever precluded from marrying again. The consequence is, that she becomes a confirmed harlot in the tribe.' Gregg's Com. Prairies, vol. ii., pp. 43, 308-10, 313. 'El culpable, segun dicen, jamas es castigado por el marido con la muerte; solamente se abroga el derecho de darle algunos golpes y cogerse sus mulas ó caballos.' Berlandier y Thovel, Diario, p. 253; Marcy's Army Life, p. 49. 'These yung men may not haue carnall copulation with any woman: but all the yung men of the countrey which are to marrie, may company with them… I saw likewise certaine women which liued dishonestly among men.' Alarchon, in Hakluyt's Voy., vol. iii., p. 436.