Chapter 10

It is recorded[62] that Padre Porras, with Andres Gutierrez, Cristoval de la Concepcion, and ten soldiers, arrived in Tusayan, "dia del glorioso San Bernardo (que és el apellido que aora tiene aquel pueblo)," which leaves no doubt why the mission at Awatobi was so named. Although an apostate Indian had spread the report, previously to the advent of these priests in Tusayan, that the Spaniards were coming among them to burn their pueblos, rob their homes, and devour[63] their children, the zealous missionaries in 1629 converted many of the chiefs and baptized their children. The cacique, Don Augustin, who appears to have been baptized at Awatobi, apparently lived in Walpi or at the Middle Mesa, and returning to his pueblo, prepared the way for a continuation of the apostolic work in the villages of the other mesas.

But the missionary labors of Porras came to an untimely end. It is written that by 1633 he had made great progress in converting the Hopi, but in that year, probably at Awatobi, he was poisoned. Of the fate of his two companions and the success of their work little is known, but it is recorded that the succession of padres was not broken up to the great rebellion in 1680. Figueroa, who was massacred at Awatobi in that year, went to Tusayan in 1674 with Aug. Sta. Marie. Between the death of Porras and the arrival of Figueroa there was an interval of eleven years, during which time the two comrades of Porras or Espeleta, who went to Tusayan in 1650, took charge of the spiritual welfare of the Hopi. Espeleta and Aug. Sta. Marie were killed in 1680 at San Francisco de Oraibi and Walpi, respectively, and José Trujillo probably lost his life at Old Shuñopovi at the same time. As there is no good reason to suppose that Awatobi, one of the most populous Tusayan pueblos, was neglected by the Spanish missionaries after the death of Porras in 1633, and as it was the first pueblo encountered on the trail from Zuñi, doubtless San Bernardino was one of the earliest missions erected in Tusayan. From 1680 until 1692, the period of independence resulting from the great Pueblo revolt, there was no priest in Tusayan, nor, indeed, in all New Mexico. Possibly the mission was repaired between 1692 and 1700, but it is probable that it was built as early as the time Porras lived in Awatobi. It is explicitly stated that in the destruction of Awatobi in 1700 no missionaries were killed, although it is recorded that early in that year Padre Garaycoechea made it a visit.

The disputes between the Jesuits and Franciscans to obtain the Hopi field for missionary work during the eighteenth century naturally falls in another chapter of Spanish-Tusayan history. Aside from sporadic visits to the pueblos, nothing tangible appears to have resulted from the attempts at conversion in this epoch. True, many apostates were induced to return to their old homes on the Rio Grande and some of the Hopi frequently asked for resident priests, making plausible offers to protect them; but the people as a whole were hostile, and the mission churches were never rebuilt, nor did the fathers again live in this isolated province.

In 1692 Awatobi was visited by Don Diego de Vargas, the reconquerer of New Mexico, who appears to have had no difficulty bringing to terms the pueblos of Awatobi, Walpi, Mishoñinovi, and Shuñopovi.[64] He found, however, that Awatobi was "fortified," and the entrance so narrow that but one man could enter at a time. The description leads us to conclude that the fortification was the wall at the eastern end, and the entrance the gateway, the sides of which are still to be seen. The plaza in which the cross was erected was probably just north of the walls of the mission.

There would seem to be no doubt that a mission building was standing at Awatobi before 1680, for Vetancurt, writing about the year named, states that in the uprising it was burned.[65] At the time of the visit of Garaycoechea, in the spring of 1700, he found that the mission had been rebuilt. In this connection it is instructive, as bearing on the probable cause of the destruction of Awatobi, to find that while the inhabitants of this pueblo desired to have the mission rehabilitated, the other Tusayan pueblos were so hostile that the friends of the priest in Awatobi persuaded him not to attempt to visit the other villages. This warning was no doubt well advised, and the tragic fate which befell Awatobi before the close of the year shows that the trouble was brewing when the padre was there, and possibly Garaycoechea's visit hastened the catastrophe or intensified the hatred of the other pueblos.

At the time of Garaycoechea's visit he baptized, it is said, 73 persons. This rite was particularly obnoxious[66] to the Hopi, as indeed to the other Pueblo Indians, notwithstanding they performed practically the same ceremony in initiations into their own secret societies. The Awatobians, however, or at least some of them, allowed this rite of the Christians, thus intensifying the hatred of the more conservative of their own village and of the neighboring pueblos. These and other facts seem to indicate that the real cause of the destruction of Awatobi was the reception of Christianity by its inhabitants, which the other villagers regarded as sorcery. The conservative party, led by Tapolo, opened the gate of the town to the warriors of Walpi and Mishoñinovi, who slaughtered the liberals, thus effectually rooting out the new faith from Tusayan, for after that time it never again obtained a foothold.

The visit of Padre Juan Garaycoechea to Tusayan was at the invitation of Espeleta, chief of Oraibi, but he went no farther than Awatobi, where he baptized the 73 Hopi. He then returned to the "governor," and arrived at Zuñi in June. According to Bancroft (p. 222), "In the 'Moqui Noticias' MS., 669, it is stated that the other Moquis, angry that Aguatuvi had received the padres, came and attacked the pueblo, killed all the men, and carried off all the women and children, leaving the place for many years deserted." Although I have not been able to consult the document quoted, this conclusion corresponds so closely with Hopi tradition that I believe it is practically true, although Bancroft unfortunately closes the quotation I have made from his account with the words, "I think this must be an error." Espeleta, the Oraibi chief, and 20 companions were in Santa Fé in October, 1700, and proposed a peace in which the Hopi asked for religious toleration, which Governor Cubero refused. As a final appeal he desired that the fathers should not permanently reside with them, but should visit one pueblo each year for six years; but this request was also rejected. Espeleta returned to Oraibi, and immediately on his appearance an unsuccessful attempt was made to destroy Awatobi, followed, as recounted in the legend, by a union with Walpi and Mishoñinovi, by which the liberal-minded villagers of the Antelope mesa were overthrown. Documentary and legendary accounts are thus in strict accord regarding the cause of the destruction.

The meager fragmentary historical evidence that can be adduced shows that the destruction of Awatobi occurred in the autumn or early winter of 1700. In May of that year we have the account of the visiting padre, and in the summer when Espeleta was at Santa Fé, the pueblo was flourishing. The month of November would have been a favorable one for the destruction of the town for the reason that during this time the warriors would all be engaged in secret kiva rites. The legend relates that the overthrow of the pueblo was at the _Naacnaiya_,[67] which now takes place in November.

For many years after its destruction the name of Awatobi was still retained on maps including the Tusayan province, and there exist several published references to the place as if still inhabited; but these appear to be compilations, as no traveler visited the site subsequently to 1700. It is never referred to in writings of the eighteenth or first half of the nineteenth centuries, and its site attracted no attention. The ruins remained unidentified until about 1884, when the late Captain J. G. Bourke published his book on the "Snake Dance of the Moquis," in which he showed that the ruin called by the Navaho Tally-hogan was the old Awatobi which played such a prominent part in early Tusayan history.

The ruin was described and figured a few years later by Mr Victor Mindeleff in his valuable memoir on Cibola and Tusayan architecture. Bourke's reference is very brief and Mindeleff's plan deficient, as it includes only a portion of the ruin, namely, the conspicuous mission walls and adjacent buildings, overlooking entirely the older or western mounds, which are the most characteristic. In 1892 I published the first complete ground-plan of the ruins of Awatobi, including both eastern and western sections. As Mindeleff's plan is defective, his characterization of the architectural features of the pueblo is consequently faulty. He says: "The plan suggests that the original pueblo was built about three sides of a rectangular court, the fourth or southeast side, later occupied by the mission buildings, being left open or protected by a low wall." While the eastern portion undoubtedly supports this conclusion, had he examined the western or main section he would doubtless have qualified his conclusion (plate CVII). This portion was compact, without a rectangular court, and was of pyramidal form. The eastern section was probably of later construction, and the mission was originally built outside the main pueblo, although probably a row of rooms of very ancient date extended along the northern side opposite the church. As it was customary in Tusayan to isolate the kivas, these rooms in Awatobi were probably extramural and may have been situated in this eastern court, but the majority of the people lived in the western section. The architecture of the mission and adjacent rooms shows well-marked Spanish influence, which is wholly absent in the buildings forming the western mounds.

LEGEND OF THE DESTRUCTION OF AWATOBI

The legend of the overthrow of Awatobi is preserved in detail among the living villagers of Tusayan, and like all stories which have been transmitted for several generations exist in several variants, differing in episodes, but coinciding in general outlines. In the absence of contemporary documentary history, which some time may possibly be brought to light, the legends are the only available data regarding an event of great importance in the modern history of Tusayan.

I have obtained the legends from Supela, Shimo,[68] Masiumptiwa, and Saliko, and the most complete appears to be that of the last mentioned. The others dilated more on the atrocities which were committed on the bodies of the unfortunate captives, and the tortures endured before they were killed. All show traces of modification, incorporation, and modern invention.

_Destruction of Awatobi as related by Saliko_[69]

"The chiefs Wiki and Shimo, and others, have told you their stories, and surely their ancestors were living here at Walpi when Awatobi was occupied. It was a large village, and many people lived there, and the village chief was called Tapolo, but he was not at peace with his people, and there were quarreling and trouble. Owing to this conflict only a little rain fell, but the land was fertile and fair harvests were still gathered. The Awatobi men were bad (_powako_, sorcerers). Sometimes they went in small bands among the fields of the other villagers and cudgeled any solitary worker they found. If they overtook any woman they ravished her, and they waylaid hunting parties, taking the game, after beating and sometimes killing the hunters. There was considerable trouble in Awatobi, and Tapolo sent to the Oraibi chief asking him to bring his people and kill the evil Awatobians. The Oraibi came and fought with them, and many were killed on both sides, but the Oraibi were not strong enough to enter the village, and were compelled to withdraw. On his way back the Oraibi chief stopped at Walpi and talked with the chiefs there. Said he, 'I can not tell why Tapolo wants the Oraibi to kill his folks, but we have tried and have not succeeded very well. Even if we did succeed, what benefit would come to us who live too far away to occupy the land? You Walpi people live close to them and have suffered most at their hands; it is for you to try.' While they were talking Tapolo had also come, and it was then decided that other chiefs of all the villages should convene at Walpi to consult. Couriers were sent out, and when all the chiefs had arrived Tapolo declared that his people had become sorcerers (Christians), and hence should all be destroyed.

"It was then arranged that in four days large bands from all the other villages should prepare themselves, and assemble at a spring not far from Awatobi. A long while before this, when the Spaniards lived there, they had built a wall on the side of the village that needed protection, and in this wall was a great, strong door. Tapolo proposed that the assailants should come before dawn, and he would be at this door ready to admit them, and under this compact he returned to his village. During the fourth night after this, as agreed upon, the various bands assembled at the deep gulch spring, and every man carried, besides his weapons, a cedar-bark torch and a bundle of greasewood. Just before dawn they moved silently up to the mesa summit, and, going directly to the east side of the village, they entered the gate, which opened as they approached. In one of the courts was a large kiva, and in it were a number of men engaged in sorcerer's rites. The assailants at once made for the kiva, and plucking up the ladder, they stood around the hatchway, shooting arrows down among the entrapped occupants. In the numerous cooking pits fire had been maintained through the night for the preparation of food for a feast on the appointed morning, and from these they lighted their torches. Great numbers of these and the bundles of greasewood being set on fire, they were cast down the hatchway, and firewood from stacks upon the house terraces were also thrown into the kiva. The red peppers for which Awatobi was famous were hanging in thick clusters along the fronts of the houses, and these they crushed in their hands and flung upon the blazing fire in the kiva to further torment their burning occupants. After this, all who were capable of moving were compelled to travel or drag themselves until they came to the sand-hills of Mishoñinovi, and there the final disposition of the prisoners was made.

"My maternal ancestor had recognized a woman chief (_Mamzrau moñwi_), and saved her at the place of massacre called Maski, and now he asked her whether she would be willing to initiate the woman of Walpi in the rites of the _Mamzrau_. She complied, and thus the observance of the ceremonial called the Mamzráuti came to Walpi. I can not tell how it came to the other villages. This Mamzrau-moñwi had no children, and hence my maternal ancestor's sister became chief, and her _tiponi_ (badge of office) came to me. Some of the other Awatobi women knew how to bring rain, and such of them as were willing to teach their songs were spared and went to different villages. The Oraibi chief saved a man who knew how to cause peaches to grow, and that is why Oraibi has such an abundance of peaches now. The Mishoñinovi chief saved a prisoner who knew how to make the sweet, small-ear corn grow, and that is why it is more abundant there than elsewhere. All the women who knew song prayers and were willing to teach them were spared, and no children were designedly killed, but were divided among the villages, most of them going to Mishoñinovi. The remainder of the prisoners, men and women, were again tortured and dismembered and left to die on the sand hills, and there their bones are, and that is the reason the place is called _Maschomo_ (Death-mound). This is the story of Awatobi told by my old people."

All variants of the legend are in harmony in this particular, that Awatobi was destroyed by the other Tusayan pueblos, and that Mishoñinovi, Walpi, and probably Oraibi and Shuñopovi participated in the deed. A grievance that would unite the other villagers against Awatobi must have been a great one, indeed, and not a mere dispute about water or lands. The more I study the real cause, hidden in the term _powako_, "wizard" or "sorcerer," the more I am convinced that the progress Christianity was making in Awatobi, after the reconquest of the Pueblos in 1692, explains the hostility of the other villagers. The party favoring the Catholic fathers in Awatobi was increasing, and the other Tusayan pueblos watched its growth with alarm. They foresaw that it heralded the return of the hated domination of the priests, associated in their minds with practical slavery, and they decided on the tragedy, which was carried out with all the savagery of which their natures were capable.

They greatly feared the return of the Spanish soldiers, as the epoch of Spanish rule, mild though it may have been, was held in universal detestation. Moreover, after the reconquest of the Rio Grande pueblos, many apostates fled to Tusayan and fanned the fires of hatred against the priests. Walpi received these malcontents, who came in numbers a few years later. Among these arrivals were Tanoan warriors and their families, part of whom were ancestors of the present inhabitants of Hano.

It was no doubt hoped that the destruction of Awatobi would effectually root out the growing Christian influence, which it in fact did; and for fifty years afterward Tusayan successfully resisted all efforts to convert it. Franciscans from the east and Jesuits from the Gila in the south strove to get a new hold, but they never succeeded in rebuilding the missions in this isolated province, which was generally regarded as independent.

From the scanty data I have been able to collect from historical and legendary sources, it seems probable that Awatobi was always more affected by the padres than were the other Tusayan pueblos. This was the village which was said to have been "converted" by Padre Porras, whose work, after his death by poison in 1633, was no doubt continued by his associates and successors. About 1680, as we learn from documentary accounts, the population of Awatobi was 800,[70] and it was probably not much smaller in 1700, the time of its destruction.

EVIDENCES OF FIRE IN THE DESTRUCTION

Wherever excavations were conducted in the eastern section of Awatobi, we could not penetrate far below the surface without encountering unmistakable evidences of a great conflagration. The effect of the fire was particularly disastrous in the rooms of the eastern section, or that part of the pueblo contiguous to the mission. Hardly a single object was removed from this part of Awatobi that had not been charred. Many of the beams were completely burned; others were charred only on their surfaces. The rooms were filled with ashes and scoriæ, while the walls had been cracked as if by intense heat.

Perhaps the most significant fact in regard to the burning of Awatobi was seen in some of the houses where the fire seems to have been less intense. In many chambers of the eastern section, which evidently were used as granaries, the corn was stacked in piles just as it is today under many of the living rooms at Walpi, a fact which tends to show that there was no attempt to pillage the pueblo before its destruction. The ears of corn in these store-rooms were simply charred, but so well preserved that entire ears of maize were collected in great numbers. It may here be mentioned that upon one of the stacks of corn I found during my excavations for the Hemenway Expedition in 1892, a rusty iron knife-blade, showing that the owner of the room was acquainted with objects of Spanish manufacture. This blade is now deposited with the Hemenway collection in the Peabody Museum at Cambridge.

THE RUINS OF THE MISSION

The mission church of San Bernardino de Awatobi was erected very early in the history of the Spanish occupancy, and its ruined walls are the only ones now standing above the surface. This building was constructed by the padres on a mesa top, while the churches at Walpi and Shuñopovi were built in the foothills near those pueblos. The mission at Oraibi likewise stood on a mesa top, so that we must qualify Mindeleff's statement[71] that "at Tusayan there is no evidence that a church or mission house ever formed part of the villages on the mesa summits.... These summits have been extensively occupied only in comparatively recent time, although one or more churches may have been built here at an early date as outlooks over the fields in the valley below."

At the time of the Spanish invasion three of the Hopi villages stood on the foothills or lower terraces of the mesas on which they now stand, and the other two, Awatobi and Oraibi, occupied the same sites as today, on the summits of the mesas.

I believe that at the time of the Spanish discovery of Tusayan by Pedro de Tobar in 1540, there were only five Tusayan towns--Walpi, Awatobi, Shuñopovi, Mishoñinovi, and Oraibi. Later, Awatobi was destroyed, and shortly after 1680 Walpi, the only East Mesa town, together with Mishoñinovi and Shuñopovi, on the Middle Mesa, were moved to the elevated sites they now occupy. Oraibi, therefore, is probably the only Tusayan pueblo, at present inhabited, which occupies practically the same site that it did in 1540.

In their excavations for the foundations of new houses the present inhabitants of Oraibi often find, as I am informed by Mr H. R. Voth, the missionary at that place, vessels or potsherds of ancient Tusayan ware closely resembling that which is found in the ruins of Sikyatki and Awatobi.

The mission building at Awatobi, known in the church history of New Mexico and Arizona as San Bernardo or San Bernardino, was reputed to be the largest in Tusayan, and its walls are still the best preserved of any mission structure in that province. This, however, does not imply that the church structures of Tusayan are well preserved, for the mission buildings at Walpi have wholly disappeared, while at Oraibi little more than a pile of stones remains. Of the Shuñopovi mission of San Bernabe there are no standing walls save at one end, which are now used as a sheep corral.

The mission of San Bernardino de Awatobi was built on the southern side of the eastern part of the pueblo on the edge of the cliff, and its walls are the only ones of Awatobi now standing above ground. From the situation of these walls, as compared with the oldest part of Awatobi--the western mounds--I believe that San Bernardino mission was, when erected, beyond the limits of the pueblo proper--a custom almost universally followed in erecting pueblo mission churches--necessary in this instance, since from the compactness of the village there was no other available site. The same was true of the missions of Oraibi and Shuñopovi, and probably of Old Walpi. As time passed additional buildings were erected near it, this eastward extension altering the original plan of the town, but in no way affecting the configuration of the older portion.