Chapter 3

The Pueblo tribes of New Mexico and Arizona, with rare exceptions, manufacture earthenware vessels for domestic use. The Pueblo of Taos may be mentioned as one of these exceptions; although the manner of living, the general habits, and characteristics of the tribe are similar to those of the other Pueblo Indians, and although they make use of pottery for domestic purposes, they do not manufacture it. Some pieces, such as water jars and vessels used for cooking, are made in the village, but this occurs only in such families as have intermarried with other tribes where the manufacture of the native ware is carried on.

The Pueblos among whom the manufacture of pottery or earthenware utensils may be classed as a conspicuous feature of their peculiar civilization at the present time, are situated geographically as follows: San Juan, Santa Clara, San Ildefonso, Cochiti, Santo Domingo, San Felipe, Sandia, and Isleta, located on the Rio Grande; Pojake, Tesuke, Nambe, Jamez, Zia or Silla, Santa Ana, Laguna, and Acoma, situated on the tributaries of the Rio Grande; Zuni, and some small pueblos of the same tribe all within the borders of New Mexico. Zuni however is located on the Rio Zuni, which flows into the Little Colorado River.

The Moki pueblos, numbering seven in all, are embraced in what is called the Province of Tusyan, and are located within the Territory of Arizona, near its northeastern corner.

The Zunians and Shinumos, although situated farther from civilized people and less influenced by their usages than any of the other Indians mentioned, surpass all the other tribes in the manufacture of all kinds of earthenware. The collections made from these tribes, as will be seen by reference to the catalogue, exceed, both in number and variety, those from all the others combined. The collection as enumerated in the catalogue includes specimens from all the pueblos referred to.

Although the uses of these articles are to a great extent the same among all the Pueblo tribes, and the shapes and forms are apparently similar, yet to the experienced eye there is no difficulty in detecting the peculiarities which distinguish one from the other, or at least in assigning them to the tribes with which they originated.

It will be observed by reference both to the colored and wood-cut illustrations that there are special distinctions between the ornamentation of the pottery of the pueblos of the Rio Grande Valley and of those situated on the tributaries of the Rio Colorado. In the decorations of the former the birds and vine are conspicuous and constantly recurring features, while in the Zuni and Shinumo pottery the elk, domestic animals, and birds peculiar to these arid regions are the figures most frequently used. The difference is easily accounted for when we are informed of the fact that the former tribes reside in the valley of the Rio Grande, which is well adapted to the culture of the grape as well as other crops. The ever-present vine and the numerous birds which flock to this fertile valley will naturally suggest figures for decoration. On the other hand, the Zunians and Shinumos reside in regions almost destitute of water, and hence without any attractive vegetation; therefore their designs are drawn chiefly from the sharp outlines of their dwellings, their domestic animals, birds, and the elk and antelope that graze in the little grassy oases. None of these are actually drawn from nature, but from imagination and memory, as they never have an object before them in molding or painting.

In none of the cases referred to do we observe any attempts to imitate the exact forms or ceramic designs of the so-called ancient pottery, fragments and sometimes entire vessels of which are found throughout this southwestern region. This seems strange from the fact that in the use of stone implements we find but few which are the result of their own handiwork. The old ruins are searched, and from them, and the debris about them, stone pestles, mortars, hammers, hatchets, rubbing stones, scrapers, picks, spear and arrow heads, and polishing stones are collected by the inhabitants of nearly all the pueblos, and are kept and used by them.

The clay mostly used by the Zunians in the manufacture of pottery is a dark, bluish, carbonaceous, clayey shale found in layers usually near the tops of the mesas. Several of these elevated mesas are situated near Zuni, from which the natives obtain this material. This carbonaceous clay is first mixed with water and then kneaded as a baker kneads dough until it reaches the proper consistency; with this, crushed volcanic lava is sometimes mixed; but the Zunians more frequently pulverize fragments of broken pottery, which have been preserved for this purpose. This seems to prevent explosion, cracking, or fracture by rendering the paste sufficiently porous to allow the heat to pass through without injurious effect. When the clayey dough is ready to be used a sufficient quantity is rolled into a ball. The dough, if worked by a careful artist, is first tested as to its fitness for molding by putting a piece of the paste to the tongue, the sensitiveness of which is such as to detect any gritty substance or particles, when the fingers fail to do so. The ball is hollowed out with the fingers into the shape of a bowl (this form constituting the foundation for all varieties of earthenware) and assumes the desired form by the addition of strips of the clay; all traces of the addition of each strip are removed before another is added, by the use of a small trowel fashioned from a piece of gourd or fragment of pottery, the only tool employed in the manufacture of pottery.

The bottoms of old water jars and bowls form stands for the articles while being worked by the potter. The bowls are filled with sand when objects of a globular form are to be made. Although I have often watched the process, yet in no instance have I ever observed the use of a potter's wheel, measuring instrument, or model of any kind. The makers, who are always females, depend entirely on memory and skill derived from practice to accomplish their work. The vessels when completely formed are laid in some convenient place to sun-dry. A paint or solution is then made, either of a fine white calcareous earth, consisting mainly of carbonate of lime, or of a milk-white indurated clay, almost wholly insoluble in acids, and apparently derived from decomposed feldspar with a small proportion of mica. This solution is applied to the surface of the vessel and allowed to dry; it is then ready for the decorations.

The pigments from which the paints are derived for decorative purposes are also found in the vicinity of the mesas, and are employed by the Indians in the production of two colors, each of which varies slightly according to the intensity of heat in the process of baking, or the manner in which it is applied. One varies from a black to a blackish-brown, the other from a light brick red to a dark dull red color. The material which produces these colors is generally found in a hard, stony condition, and is ground in a small stone mortar, just as we reduce India ink for use. When the pigment is properly reduced, and mixed with water so as to form a thin solution, it is applied with brushes made of the leaves of the yucca. These brushes are made of flat pieces of the leaf, which are stripped off and bruised at one end, and are of different sizes adapted to the coarse or fine lines the artist may wish to draw. In this manner all the decorations on the pottery are produced.

The substance used in producing the black ware is a clayey brown hematite, or ferruginous indurated clay, quite hard. The material used to produce the red or brown colors is a yellowish impure clay, colored from oxide of iron; indeed it is mainly clay, but contains some sand and a very small amount of carbonate of lime. These are the principal ingredients and methods involved in the manufacture of Zuni pottery.

The method practiced by the Zunians in baking pottery differs somewhat from that employed by the tribes who make quantities of black and red ware. It seems to be a necessity on the part of the Zunians to observe the greatest care in this operation. Their pottery is nearly all decorated and must be baked free from contact with the peculiar fuel used for that purpose. During the baking process it sometimes happens that a piece of the fuel, which is composed of dried manure carefully built up oven-shaped around the vessels to be baked, falls against the vessel. In every such instance a carbonized or smoky spot is left on the jar or bowl, which is regarded by the Indians as a blemish. The kiln is carefully watched until the fuel is thoroughly burnt to a white ash, when the vessels can be removed without danger of such blemishes.

The mode of manufacturing pottery adopted at the pueblos of the Rio Grande Valley is quite similar to that described as practiced by the Zuni, Shinumo, Acoma, and Laguna Indians, but there is considerable difference in the method of decorating and polishing. Polishing is practiced chiefly by the Indians of the eastern pueblos, and but little by those of the more western region.

The pueblos of Santa Clara, Cochiti, San Juan, Tesuke, &c., manufacture large quantities of pottery for sale in addition to that made for their own use. It is in these eastern pueblos that the black polished ware is chiefly found, and it is in the production of this class of ware that the chief difference in the ceramic art between the two sections exists. The clays used in the manufacture of this ware are of the same character as those of which the other is made; the paste is prepared in the same way, so that when the vessels are formed and ready for the kiln they are of the color of the original clay. In other words, the change to the black color is not produced in making the paste or in moulding or forming the vessel, but during the process of baking. The manner of forming the vessel is the same as with the western tribes; and when, formed it is dried in the sun in the same way; after this a solution of very fine ochre-colored clay is applied to the outside and inside near the top, or to such parts of the surface as are to be polished. While this solution thus applied is still moist, the process of polishing begins by rubbing the parts thus washed with smooth, fine-grained stones until quite dry and glossy. The parts thus rubbed still retain the original red color of the clay. The vessels are again placed in the sun and allowed to become thoroughly dry, when they are ready for baking. It is in this part of the process that the great differences in color are produced. The vessels are placed together in a heap on a level spot of ground and carefully covered over with coarsely broken dried manure obtained from the corrals. The kiln thus formed is then ignited at several points.

It is proper to add here that the clays used by the Santa Clara Indians are of a brick-red color, containing an admixture of very fine sand, which, no doubt, prevents cracking in burning, and hence dispenses with the necessity of using lava or pottery fragments, as is the custom of the Indians of the western pueblos. The burning is carried on until a sufficient degree of heat is obtained properly to bake the vessels, which still retain their original red brick color. At this juncture such of the vessels as it is desired have remain in that condition are removed from the fire and allowed to cool, when they are ready for use. Those which the artists intend to color black are allowed to remain and another application of fuel, finely pulverized, is made, completely covering and smothering the fire. This produces a dense, dark smoke, a portion of which is absorbed by the baking vessels and gives them the desired black color. It is in this manner that the black ware of these eastern pueblos is produced.

It is said that among the Cochiti, Santa Clara, and some other Pueblos a vegetable matter is employed to produce some of their decorative designs; this, however, I was unable to verify, though some of the Indians assured me of the fact, and furnished me a bunch of the plant, which Dr. Vasey, of the Agricultural Department, found to be _Cleome integrifolia_, a plant common throughout the Western Territories. A few specimens of the ware, some burnt and some unburnt, said to be decorated with the oil or juice of this plant were secured.

As heretofore remarked, notwithstanding the variety in ornamentation, there are really but few different figures, and these are mostly quite simple. Any one interested in the study of Indian art can find in the figures and plates of this catalogue all the original conceptions of the artists of the Pueblo Indians as depicted by them.

While it is of value in the study of ethnology, and as affording a means of comparison in the study of archaeology, there is nothing in the composition or ornamentation, or in the form of the vessels, that ceramic artists of the civilized races would desire to copy.

As a means of reference in the study of ancient American pottery, I consider the collection invaluable, as it can scarcely be possible that the forms and decorations contain nothing that has been handed down from a former age. Although the figures used have no symbolic characters connected with them in the mind of the modern artist, yet it is more than probable that at least some of them did have such a meaning to the ancient artists. For example, the little tadpole-shaped figure on the clay baskets used in their dances and sacred ceremonies by the Zunians is understood by them to represent a little water articulate, which, as heretofore stated, is probably the larva of some insect or crustacean, very common in the pools and sluggish streams of the country inhabited by these Indians. Now, it is possible that this figure has been used with the same meaning from time immemorial, but I find, as pointed out to me by Prof. Cyrus Thomas, that almost exactly the same figure is on a vessel pictured on Plate VII of the manuscript Troano, where a religious ceremony of some kind is evidently represented. The same figure is also found in Landa's character for the Maya day _Cib_, a word signifying copal, a gum or resin formerly used in religious ceremonies as incense. I find also on Plate XXXV of the same manuscript the figures of bowls or pots with legs similar to those of the Zuni. I do not point out these resemblances as proof of any relation between the two races, but as mere illustrations of what possibly may be learned by a careful study of the forms and decorations of this pottery. It may also be well to add here another fact to which Professor Thomas calls my attention, viz., the similarity between the manner of wearing the hair by the Shinumo women, _i.e._, in knots at the side, as represented by the female images, and that of the ancient Maya women, as shown in numerous figures on the manuscript Troano. Any one familiar with General Cesnola's collection from Cyprus cannot fail to be reminded of it when he examines this collection of Indian pottery; especially the colors used and the general character of the specimens; but an inspection of the two collections is necessary in order to have this general resemblance brought to mind, as it does not appear so distinctly on a comparison of the published figures only. The figures on Plate XLIV of his "Cyprus" bear quite a striking resemblance to those on some specimens of Cochiti ware. The quadruple cup, Fig. 25, page 406, is almost exactly like the Zuni quadruple cups, and was probably used for the same purpose. The same type of multiple cups is also shown in Plate IX of the same work. The two tea-pot-like vessels represented on Plate VIII, as well as the two bird-shaped pieces on the same plate, are much, like the similar vessels of Cochiti pottery, several of which are figured in this catalogue.

The resemblance of this Indian ware, in the form of the vessels, to that found in the ancient mounds of this country is so marked that it is scarcely necessary to remind the reader of the fact, but it may be well to call attention to the much, larger proportion of water vessels among the Indian pottery than is seen in collections from the mounds. This, however, may perhaps be accounted for by the scarcity of water in the western region.

The custom of the Zuni artists of making a diamond or triangle over the region of the heart of the elk and deer figures with a line running to the mouth, although somewhat singular, is quite consistent with the Indian practice of symbolic writing. I was informed by the Zuni Indians that it was intended to denote that "the mouth speaks from the heart." A similar mark occurs in the decoration of the vase figured in Cesnola's "Cyprus," page 268.

Contemporaneous and somewhat closely related tribes may use widely different figures in the decoration of their ware, and hence it is unsafe, in studying ancient specimens, to draw hasty conclusions from slight differences in this respect; and I think I may also safely add that a comparatively short period of time, a century or so at most, may suffice to bring about a great change in the same tribe in the form and manner of decorating their pottery. It also shows us that the ware of a given tribe, which does not bear the impress of civilized influence, can, by a careful study, be distinguished in nearly all cases from that of any other tribe. I feel so confident of the truth of this statement, that I would not hesitate to undertake to pick out all pieces of Zuni ornamented ware from a collection of thousands of specimens of modern Pueblo Indian pottery if indiscriminately mixed together.

The Shinumo pottery in general appearance and form bears a strong resemblance to that of Zuni; in fact it is almost impossible to separate the ornamented bowls and water vases of the two if mingled together. There are certain figures found in the one which never occur in the other, but there are a number of designs, especially of those most generally seen, that are quite common to the pottery of both tribes.

The different varieties of ware, the red or brown without decorations, the white with decorations, and the black are in general use with the tribe, and specimens of each are contained in the collection. But few specimens of the purely micaceous ware are found, either in Zuni or Wolpi.

The preponderance of the large round water jugs in the Shinumo collection over that of Zuni is noticeable. This form of vessel seems to be more in use by tribes whose villages are quite remote from water or which are situated on high mesas difficult of access. The kinds of vessels, however, which are common with the Zunians are also common with the Shinumos, and those intended for the same use are generally of the same shape or similar in form. But, as with the decorations, there are also vessels so markedly distinct and variant from those we find at Zuni as to show very readily at least tribal distinctions between the ceramic artists and manufacturers.

The proximity of Laguna to Acoma led us to anticipate what we afterward found, viz., a great similarity in the forms of their vessels, and also in their manner of ornamentation. The principal differences consist in the more profuse use of the forms of birds and flowers, the first evidently representing prairie grouse and the last some form of sunflower. There is an absence of the geometrical forms, of lines and angles commonly observed on the works of more distant pueblos.

Quite a number of animal representations, made hollow for use as drinking vessels, were obtained, displaying grotesquely imitative forms of deer, elk, sheep, big-horn, antelope, and other animals with which they are familiar. All of these objects have more color laid on them than is to be found on the pottery of their neighbors of Acoma, the birds and animals being painted in a light rufous fawn color not in use elsewhere, and the only instance of the employment of green is on a tinaja of this pueblo used in coloring some foliage.

VEGETAL SUBSTANCES.

This class of ware comprises a very diversified group of objects; indeed, so great is the variety that I will not attempt a general description of them. Specific reference will be made to the objects as they occur in their places in the catalogue.

The objects of basketry or wicker-work are quite varied in form, construction, and decoration. Those made by the Zuni Indians are so rude and coarse as not to entitle them to any merit. The larger baskets made by this tribe are used for carrying corn, melons, peppers, &c. The smaller are used for holding beans, shelled corn, and other coarse small materials.

The basketry of the Shinumos is of a finer and more finished quality. Among these are many jug or canteen shaped baskets, from which, no doubt, many of the forms of their pottery water vessels have been copied. These are sometimes globular, with large round bodies and small necks. They are generally very closely woven and are then coated over with a resin or gum which renders them capable of holding water. Like some of their water jugs, in pottery, they have small horsehair ears or loops attached to the sides through which strings are passed for carrying them either over the head or shoulder. This class of water jug basketry all show evidences of age, and it is possible that they were manufactured by the Apaches or other tribes skilled in the art. The flat kinds are designed to hold fine grain and meal, and are also frequently used for winnowing. This is done by placing a small quantity of grain in the basket, and by a skillful motion throwing the grain up into the wind and again catching it as it comes down. This motion is kept up until the wind has separated the chaff from, the grain. Many of the flat baskets are decorated in colors, as will be seen by the accompanying illustrations.

It is quite probable that most of the finer ware of this class is manufactured by the Apache Indians, who are celebrated for this work, and finds its way among the Pueblos through the medium of barter.

The basketry of the Zunians is usually made of small round willows and the stem of the yucca, the leaves of which attain a long slender growth in that region. It is quite certain that the basketry used for holding water is not manufactured by the Zunians, and probably not by the Shinumos, though many are found with them.