Chapter 9

There are many ruins situated on the periphery of Tusayan which are connected traditionally with the Hopi, but are not here mentioned. Of these, the so-called "Fire-house" is said to have been the home of the ancestors of Sikyatki, and Kintiel of certain Zuñi people akin to the Hopi. Both of the ruins mentioned differ in their architectural features from characteristic prehistoric Tusayan ruins, for they are circular in form, as are many of the ruins in the middle zone of the pueblo area. With these exceptions there are no circular ruins within the area over which the Hopi lay claim, and it is probable that the accolents of Kintiel were more Zuñi than Hopi in kinship.

Many ruins north of Oraibi and in the neighborhood of the farming village of Moenkopi are attributed to the Hopi by their traditionists. The ruins about Kishyuba, connected with the Kachina people, also belong to Tusayan. These and many others doubtless offer most important contributions to an exact knowledge of the prehistoric migrations of this most interesting people.

Among the many Tusayan ruins which offer good facilities for archeological work, the two which I chose for that purpose are Awatobi and Sikyatki. My reasons for this choice may briefly be stated.

Awatobi is a historic pueblo of the Hopi, which was more or less under Spanish influence between the years 1540 and 1700. When properly investigated, in the light of archeology, it ought to present a good picture of Tusayan life before the beginning of the modifications which appear in the modern villages of that isolated province. While I expected to find evidences of Spanish occupancy, I also sought facts bearing on the character of Tusayan life in the seventeenth century.

Sikyatki, however, showed us the character of Tusayan life in the fifteenth century, or the unmodified aboriginal pueblo culture of this section of the Southwest. Here we expected to find Hopi culture unmodified by Spanish influence.

The three pueblos of Sikyatki, Awatobi, and Walpi, when properly studied, will show the condition of pueblo culture in three centuries--in Sikyatki, pure, unmodified pueblo culture; in Awatobi, pueblo life as slightly modified by the Spaniards, and in Walpi, those changes resulting from the advent of Americans superadded. While special attention has thus far been given by ethnologists mainly to the last-mentioned pueblo, a study of the ruins of the other two villages is of great value in showing how the modern life developed and what part of it is due to foreign influence.

A knowledge of the inner life of the inhabitants of Tusayan as it exists today is a necessary prerequisite to the interpretation of the ancient culture of that province; but we must always bear in mind the evolution of society and the influences of foreign origin which have been exerted on it. Many, possibly the majority, of modern customs at Walpi are inherited, but others are incorporated and still others, of ancient date, have become extinct.

As much stress is laid in this memoir on the claim that objects from Sikyatki indicate a culture uninfluenced by the Spaniards, it is well to present the evidence on which this assertion is based.

(1) Hopi legends all declare that Sikyatki was destroyed before the Spaniards, called the "long-gowned" and "iron-shirted" men, came to Tusayan. (2) Sikyatki is not mentioned by name in any documentary account of Tusayan, although the other villages are named and are readily identifiable with existing pueblos. (3) No fragment of glass, metal, or other object indicative of the contact of European civilization was found anywhere in the ruin. If we add to the above the general appearance of age in the mounds and the depth of the débris which has accumulated in the rooms and over the graves, we have the main facts on which I have relied to support my belief that Sikyatki is a prehistoric ruin.

AWATOBI

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE RUIN

No Tusayan ruin offers to the archeologist a better picture of the character of Hopi village life in the seventeenth century than that known as Awatobi (plate CVII).[48] It is peculiarly interesting as connecting the prehistoric culture of Sikyatki and modern Tusayan life, with which we have become well acquainted through recent research. Awatobi was one of the largest Tusayan pueblos in the middle of the sixteenth century, and continued to exist to the close of the seventeenth. It was therefore a historic pueblo. It had a mission, notices of which occur in historical documents of the period. From its preponderance in size, no less than from its position, we may suspect that it held relatively the same leadership among the other Antelope valley ruins that Walpi does today to Sichomovi and Hano.

The present condition of the ruins of Awatobi is in no respect peculiar or different from that of the remains of prehistoric structures, except that its mounds occupy a position on a mesa top commanding a wide outlook over a valley. On its east it is hemmed in by extensive sand dunes, which also stretch to the north and west, receding from the village all the way from a few hundred yards to a quarter of a mile. On the south the ruins overlook the plain, and the sands on the west separate it from a canyon in which there are several springs, some cornfields, and one or two modern Hopi houses. There is no water in the valley which stretches away from the mesa on which Awatobi is situated, and the foothills are only sparingly clothed with desert vegetation. The mounds of the ruin have numerous clumps of _sibibi_ (_Rhus trilobata_), and are a favorite resort of Hopi women for the berries of this highly prized shrub. There is a solitary tree midway between the sand dunes west of the village and the western mounds, near which we found it convenient to camp. The only inhabitants of the Awatobi mesa are a Navaho family, who have appropriated, for the shade it affords, a dwarf cedar east of the old mission walls. No land is cultivated, save that in the canyons above mentioned, west of the sand hills; some fair harvests are, however, still gathered from Antelope valley by the Navaho, especially in the section higher up, near Jeditoh spring.

The ruin may be approached from the road between Holbrook and Keam's Canyon, turning to the left after climbing the mesa. This road, however, is not usually traveled, since it trends through the difficult sand hills. As Keam's Canyon is the only place in this region at which to provision an expedition, it is usual to approach Awatobi from that side, the road turning to the right shortly after one ascends the steep hill out of the canyon near Keam's trading post.

My archeological work at Awatobi began on July 6, 1895, and was continued for two weeks, being abandoned on account of the defection of my Hopi workmen, who left their work to attend the celebration of the _Niman_ or "Farewell" _katcina_,[49] a July festival in which many of them participated. The ruin is conveniently situated for the best archeological results; it has a good spring near by, and is not far from Keam's Canyon, the base of supplies. The soil covering the rooms, however, is almost as hard as cement, and fragile objects, such as pottery, were often broken before their removal from the matrix. A considerable quantity of débris had to be removed before the floors were reached, and as this was firmly impacted great difficulty was encountered in successful excavations.

With a corps of trained workmen much better results than those we obtained might have been expected, and the experience which the Indians subsequently had at Sikyatki would have made my excavations at Awatobi, had they been carried on later in the season, more remunerative. While my archeological work at certain points in these interesting mounds of Awatobi was more or less superficial, it was in other places thorough, and revealed many new facts in regard to the culture of the inhabitants of this most important pueblo.

I found it inexpedient to dig in the burial places among the sand dunes, on account of the religious prejudices of my workmen. This fear they afterward overcame to a certain extent, but never completely outgrew, although the cemeteries at Sikyatki were quite thoroughly excavated, yielding some of the most striking results of the summer's exploration. The sand hills west of Sikyatki are often swept by violent gales, by which the surface is continually changing, and mortuary pottery is frequently exposed. This has always been a favorite place for the collector, and many a beautiful food bowl has been carried by the Indians from this cemetery to the trading store, for the natives do not seem to object to selling a vase or other object which they find on the surface, but rarely dig in the ground for the purpose of obtaining specimens.

NOMENCLATURE OF AWATOBI

The name Awatobi is evidently derived from _awata_, a bow (referring to the Bow clan, one of the strongest in the ancient pueblo), and _obi_, "high place of." A derivation from _owa_, rock, has also been suggested, but it seems hardly distinctive enough to be applicable, and is not accepted by the Hopi themselves.

While the different pueblos of Tusayan were not specially mentioned until forty years after they were first visited, the name Awatobi is readily recognized in the account of Espejo in 1583, where it is called Aguato,[50] which appears as Zaguato and Ahuato in Hakluyt.[51] In the time of Oñate (1598) the same name is written Aguatuybá.[52] Vetancurt,[53] about 1680, mentions the pueblo under the names Aguatobi and Ahuatobi, and in 1692, or twelve years after the great rebellion, Vargas visited "San Bernardo de Aguatuvi," ten leagues from Zuñi. The name appears on maps up to the middle of the eighteenth century, several years after its destruction. In more modern times various older spellings have been adopted or new ones introduced. Among these may be mentioned:

AGUATUVÍ. Buschmann, Neu-Mexico, 231, 1858. AGUATUYA. Bandelier in Journal of American Ethnology and Archæology, III, 85, 1892 (misquoting Oñate). AGUITOBI. Bandelier in Archæological Institute Papers, Am. series, III, pt. 1, 115, 1890. AHUATU. Bandelier, ibid., 115, 135. AHUATUYBA. Bandelier, ibid., 109. AH-WAT-TENNA. Bourke, Snake Dance of the Moquis of Arizona, 195, 1884 (so called by a Tusayan Indian). AQUATASI. Walch, Charte America, 1805. AQUATUBI. Davis, Spanish Conquest of New Mexico, 368, 1869. ATABI-HOGANDI. Bourke, op. cit., 84, 1884 (Navaho name). AUA-TU-UI. Bandelier in Archæological Institute Papers, op. cit., IV, pt. 2, 368, 1892. A-WA-TE-U. Cushing in Atlantic Monthly, 367, September, 1882. AWATÚBI. Bourke, op. cit., 91, 1884. Á WAT U I. Cushing in Fourth Report Bureau of Ethnology, 493, 1886 (or Aguatóbi). ZAGNATO. Brackenridge, Early Spanish Discoveries, 19, 1857 (misprint of Hakluyt's Zaguato). ZAGUATE. Prince, New Mexico, 34, 1883 (misquoting Hakluyt). ZUGUATO. Hinton, Handbook to Arizona, 388, 1878 (misquoting Hakluyt).

The Navaho name of the ruin, as is well known, is Talla-hogan, ordinarily translated "Singing-house," and generally interpreted to refer to the mass said by the padres in the ancient church. It is probable, however, that kivas were used as chambers where songs were sung in ceremonials prior to the introduction of Christianity. Therefore why Awatobi should preeminently be designated as the "Singing-house" is not quite apparent.

The name of the mission, San Bernardino,[54] or San Bernardo, refers to its patron saint, and was first applied by Porras in honor of the natal day of this saint, on which day, in 1629, he and his companions arrived in Tusayan.

HISTORICAL KNOWLEDGE OF AWATOBI

The identification of Tusayan with the present country of the Hopi depends in great measure on the correct determination of the situation of Cibola. I have regarded as conclusive Bandelier's argument that Cibola comprised the group of pueblos inhabited by the Zuñi in the sixteenth century.[55] Regarding this as proven, Tusayan corresponds with the Hopi villages, of which Awatobi was one of the largest. It lies in the same direction and about the same distance from Zuñi as stated in Castañeda's narrative. The fact that Cardenas passed through Tusayan when he went from Cibola to the Grand Canyon in 1540 is in perfect harmony with the identification of the Hopi villages with Tusayan, and Zuñi with Cibola. Tobar, in Tusayan, heard of the great river to the west, and when he returned to the headquarters of Coronado at Cibola the general dispatched Cardenas to investigate the truth of the report. Cardenas naturally went to Tusayan where Tobar had heard the news, and from there took guides who conducted him to the Grand Canyon. Had the general been in any Hopi town at the time he sent Tobar, and later Cardenas, it is quite impossible to find any cluster of ruins which we can identify as Tusayan in the direction indicated. There can be no doubt that Tusayan was the modern Hopi country, and with this in mind the question as to which Hopi pueblo was the one first visited by Tobar is worthy of investigation.

In order to shed what light is possible on this question, I have examined the account by Castañeda, the letter of Coronado to Mendoza, and the description in the "Relacion del Suceso," but find it difficult to determine that point definitely.

In Hakluyt's translation of Coronado's letter, it is stated that the houses of the "cities" which Tobar was sent to examine were "of earth," and the "chiefe" of these towns is called "Tucano." As this letter was written before Coronado had received word from Tobar concerning his discoveries, naturally we should not expect definite information concerning the new province. Capt. Juan Jaramillo's account speaks of "Tucayan" as a province composed of seven towns, and states that the houses are terraced.

In the "Relacion del Suceso" we likewise find the province called "Tuzan" (Tusayan), and the author notes the resemblance of the villages to Cibola, but he distinctly states that the inhabitants cultivated cotton.

Castañeda's account, which is the most detailed, is that on which I have relied in my identification of Awatobi as the first Hopi pueblo seen by the Spaniards.

It seems that Don Pedro de Tobar was dispatched by Coronado to explore a province called Tusayan which was reported to be twenty-five leagues from Cibola. He had in his command seventeen horsemen and one or two foot-soldiers, and was accompanied by Friar Juan de Padilla. They arrived in the new province after dark and concealed themselves under the edge of the mesa, so near that they heard the voices of the Indians in their houses. The natives, however, discovered them at daylight drawn up in order, and came out to meet them armed with wooden clubs, bow and arrows, and carrying shields. The chief drew a line of sacred meal across the trail, and in that way symbolized that the entrance to their pueblo was closed to the intruders. During a parley, however, one of the men made a move to cross the line of meal, and an Indian struck his horse on the bridle. This opened hostilities, in which the Hopi were worsted, but apparently without loss of life. The vanquished brought presents of various kinds--cotton cloth, cornmeal, birds, skins, piñon nuts, and a few turquoises--and finding a good camping place near their pueblo, Tobar established headquarters and received homage from all the province. They allowed the Spaniards to enter their villages and traded with them.[56]

Espejo's reference to Awatobi in 1583 leaves no doubt that the pueblo was in existence in that year, and while, of course, we can not definitely say that it was not built between 1540 and 1583, the indications are that it was not. Hopi traditions assert that it was in existence when the Spaniards came, and the statement of the legendists whom I have consulted are definite that the survivors of Sikyatki went to Awatobi after the overthrow of the former pueblo. It would not appear, however, that Awatobi was founded prior to Sikyatki, nor is it stated that the refugees from Sikyatki built Awatobi, which is within the bounds of possibility, but it seems to be quite generally conceded that the Sikyatki tragedy antedated the arrival of the first Spaniards.

There can, I think, be no doubt that the Hopi pueblo first entered by Pedro de Tobar, in 1540, was Awatobi, and that the first conflict of Spanish soldiers and Hopi warriors, which occurred at that time, took place on the well-known Zuñi trail in Antelope valley, not far from Jeditoh or Antelope spring. This pueblo is the nearest village to Cibola (Zuñi), from which Tobar came, and as he took the Zuñi trail he would naturally first approach this village, even if the other pueblos on the rim of this valley were inhabited. It is interesting to consider a few lines from Castañeda, describing the event of that episode, to see how closely the site of Awatobi conforms to the narrative. In Castañeda's account of Tobar's visit we find that the latter with his command entered Tusayan so secretly that their presence was unknown to the inhabitants, and they traversed a cultivated plain without being seen, so that, we are told, they approached the village near enough to hear the voices of the Indians without being discovered. Moreover, the Indians, the narrative says, had a habit of descending to their cultivated fields, which implies that they lived on a mesa top. Awatobi was situated on a mesa, and the cultivated fields were in exactly the position indicated. The habit of retiring to their pueblo at night is still observed, or was to within a few years. Tobar arrived at the edge of Antelope valley after dark (otherwise he would have been discovered), crossed the cultivated fields under cover of night, and camped under the town at the base of the mesa. The soldiers from that point could readily hear the voices of the villagers above them. Even at the base of the lofty East Mesa I have often heard the Walpi people talking, while the words of the town crier are intelligible far out on the plain. From the configuration of the valley it would not, however, have been easier for Awatobians to have seen the approaching Spaniards than for the Walpians; still it was possible for the invaders to conceal their approach to Walpi in the same way. If, however, the first pueblo approached was Walpi, and Tobar followed the Zuñi trail, I think he would have been discovered by the Awatobi people before nightfall if he entered the cultivated fields early in the evening. It would be incredible to believe that he wandered from the trail; much more likely he went directly to Awatobi, the first village en route, and then encamped until the approach of day before entering the pueblo. At sunrise the inhabitants, early stirring, detected the presence of the intruders, and the warriors went down the mesa to meet them. They had already heard from Cibola of the strange beings, men mounted on animals which were said to devour enemies.

It may seem strange that the departure of an expedition against Tusayan was unknown to the Hopi, but the narrative leads us to believe that such was the fact. The warriors descended to the plain, and their chief drew a line of sacred meal across the trail to symbolize that the way to their pueblo was closed; whoever crossed it was an enemy, and punishment should be meted out to him. This custom is still preserved in several ceremonials at the present day, as, for instance, in the New-fire rites[57] in November and in the Flute observance in July.[58] The priests say that in former times whoever crossed a line of meal drawn on the trail at that festival was killed, and even now they insist that no one is allowed to pass a closed trail. The Awatobi warriors probably warned Tobar and his comrades not to advance, but the symbolic barrier was not understood by them. The Spaniards were not there to parley long, and it is probable that their purpose was to engage in a quarrel with the Indians. Urged on by the priest, Juan de Padilla, "who had been a soldier in his youth," they charged the Indians and overthrew a number, driving the others before them. The immediate provocation for this, according to the historian, was that an Indian struck one of the horses on the bridle, at which the holy father, losing patience, exclaimed to his captain, "Why are we here?" which was interpreted as a sign for the assault.

It must, however, be confessed that if the pueblo of Walpi was the first discovered an approach by stealth without being seen would have been easier for Tobar if the village referred to was Walpi then situated on the Ash-hill terrace, with the East Mesa between it and the Zuñi trail. To offset this probability, however, is the fact that the Zuñi trail now runs through Awatobi, or in full view of it and there is hardly a possibility that Tobar left that trail to avoid Awatobi. He would naturally visit the first village, and not go out of his way seven miles beyond it, seeking a more distant pueblo.

The effect of this onslaught on men armed with spears, clubs, and leather shields can be imagined, and the encounter seems to have discouraged the Awatobi warriors from renewed resistance. They fled, but shortly afterward brought presents as a sign of submission, when Tobar called off his men. Thus was the entry of the Spaniards into Tusayan marked with bloodshed for a trifling offense. Shortly afterward Tobar entered the village and received the complete submission of the people.

The names of the Tusayan pueblos visited by Tobar in this first entrance are nowhere mentioned in the several accounts which have come down to us. Forty years later, however, the Spaniards returned and found the friendly feeling of Awatobi to the visitors had not lapsed. When Espejo approached the town in 1583, over the same Zuñi trail, the multitudes with their caciques met him with great joy and poured maize (sacred meal?) on the ground for the horses to walk upon. This was symbolic of welcome; they "made" the trail, a ceremony which is still kept up when entrance to the pueblo is formally offered.[59]

The people, considering their poverty, were generous, and gave Espejo "hand towels with tassels" at the corners. These were probably dance kilts and ceremonial blankets, which then, as now, the Hopi made of cotton.

The pueblo, called "Aguato" in the account of that visit, was without doubt Awatobi. The name Aguatuybá, mentioned by Oñate, is also doubtless the same, although, as pointed out to me by Mr Hodge, "through an error probably of the copyist or printer, the name Aguatuybá is inadvertently given by Oñate among his list of Hopi chiefs, while Esperiez is mentioned among the pueblos." In Oñate's list we recognize Oraibi in "Naybi," and Shuñopovi in "Xumupamí" and "Comupaví," the most westerly town of the Middle Mesa. "Cuanrabi" and "Esperiez" are not recognizable as pueblos.

Espejo, therefore, appears to have been the first to mention Awatobi as "Aguato," which is metamorphosed in Hakluyt into "Zaguato or "Ahuzto,"[60] although evidently Oñate's "Aguatuybá" was intended as a name of a pueblo.

I have not been able to determine satisfactorily the date of the erection of the mission building of San Bernardino at Awatobi, but the name is mentioned as early as 1629. In that year three friars went to Tusayan and began active efforts to convert the Hopi.[61]