San Francisco Call, Volume 83, Number 96, 6 March 1898 — MYSTERIOUS DANCE OF THE ZUNIS with U S. TROOPS WATCHING. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

MYSTERIOUS DANCE OF THE ZUNIS with U S. TROOPS WATCHING.

XCITING scenes are occurring daily In Western New Mexiico, in the largest Indian town in the I'nited States. A thousand savages are dancing, hideously painted and bedecked In fanciful costumes, the like of which can nowhere (•Ise he found. Superstition and a fund Jrd Indian legendary lore spur them on toward the ultimate completion

of a season of fanatical ceremonies that will end in human sacrifice unless their plans are thwarted. On the opposite bank of a small Stream, a quarter of a mile from the estufas of the priests. Uncle Sam's cavalry is encamped, and has been for five months past. The Indian agrent has been powerless to prevent these orgies,

and the War Department has therefore been appealed to.

As the Zunis are citizens of the United States, dwelling upon their own land, set apart for them under the treaty with Mexico which ceded the present Territories of New Mexico and Arizona to this Government, they hay-; the right to follow their owi rel'gious Impulses and beliefs, the samo £.3 any other citizen. But if they po a step too far and attempt to take human life, as they have aJ ready done, the troops will step in and take a hand. Should

such an event transpire there will be iivfly times In Zuni. They have already found one witch, they claim. She has beep scourged, tortured in a score of ways, hanged — all but killed, in fact, but has been rescued by the whites, nursed back to life, and is now protected. The dances still go on, however, and will continue until the end of March. It is beyond my power to tell the meaning of all or any of the scrieD of dances now going on in Zuni. Their meaning is too deep and complex for any but a student who devotes years of study to the subject. The superstitious creed which the Zunis call their religion is very old. By some authoritles It is said to resemble the ceremonials of the ancient Aztecs or sun-wor-shipers. Be this as It may, it requires yeart off tuition for a Zuni to attain a position high in the priesthood of his tribe: only the oldest men are to be found there. About three miles from the village, rising abruptly from the sandy plain to a height of 500 feet, is a flat topped butte, called by the priests Tai' TH'ani, which means "thunder mountain."

There is but one trail leading to the summit, and this is very dangerous and preclpitious. Within one hundred feet of the top a pile of round stones, the accumulation of ages, shows where ieach pilgrim Zuni who has journeyed to the shrine at the top has placed a stone upon which he has breathed* In order that his fatigue nmy fall from him, and he may reach the summit untir^d and fresh. In the center of the mesa which marks the summit of the butte is a rud*^ stone crypt or altar, in and upon which are countless stick:? and plumes, the significance of which are known only to those who placed them there. It is to this shrine, once a year, that the priests <>f the bow journey, and it is here th;it weird incantations occur, a glimpse at which has never been witnessed" by a white man nor even by a Zuni who is not a member of the priesthood. Here it was that at the beginning of the winter solstice the priests repaired, and after several days' deliberation and petition, determined that the village was beset by a witch who must die. She had caused the death of Wa-weh, who, on account of

certain physical peculiarities had for years' been looked upon as "ma-kosh-ke" by the Zunis. She had also caused other dire misfortunes to happen, and therefore must be scourged by the priests and ultimately killed. Just here it is proper to state that the dances which began after the primary torture of the alleged witch are still going on. The death of Ma-u-ri-ta would long since have been accomplished had it not been for the presence of the United States troops before the village, where they are to remain Indefinitely. What may occur at ciny time should the Indians become worked up to a high degree of superstitious fervor, no one can foretell. The state of mind into which they work themselves may be imagined from a description of one of two of their dances, as conducted by the priests of the bow and their acolytes. ' I took my place upon the roof of one of the houses overlooking the plaza, when the Indians began to gather, in the afternoon, and secured an excellent place from which to view the dances. First there entered the acting high priest, who, followed by a medi-

cine man, circled around the plaza, chanting as they went. Both were arrayed in gorgeous dresses of brilliant hues, gaudily bedecked with feathers. The medicine man carried an earthenware bowl, filled with sacred meal, which he sprinkled upon the ground as he walked. Having completed the circle, he halted in front of a wood box or chest, painted white, and adorned with Indian figures, which stood in the center of the plaza. Two old men then emerged from a (!■'.>) way of a neighboring estufa, each armed with a long wooden sword, to the pointed end of which were attached three feathers. They opened the white box and took from it two sticks of hard wood, about two and a half feet in length and three inches square, one side of which was notched like sawteeth. Two human femur bones, doubtless the former understanding of some priest of high degree, were produced from the box and rubbed over the corrugated sticks, which lay upon the box lid, producing a hollow, rumbling sound. The bones were rubbed over the corrugated sticks, thirty-two times in one direction and then thirty-two times in the other, the men meanwhile

keeping up a weird chant. Then twenty-two men came from a dark passage way at one side of the plaza and took places behind the two priests at the box. The bones were rubbed nineteen times each way, and then the priests, who had been kneeling, stood up, facing the box and bones. They still held in their hands their feather-bedecked swords. Another priest, who apparently was in charge of the twenty-two men. recited a score of words, which all joined in chanting, beating tom-toms as they sang. The two priests at the box kept perfect time with their wooden swords, but, during the hour or more that the chant lasted did not move a muscle, except their right hands. My interpreter informed me that the chant was a dissertation upon the wrongs of the Zunis, suffered through the machinations of numerous and varied devils, brought about, no doubt, through the agency of the old witch. The chanting ceased abruptly, In the middle of a sentence, it seemed to me, the twenty-two men and the priest

facing about and departing in the direction whence they had come.

Down another dark passageway, underneath a house, the muffled rhythm of beating tom-toms was heard, and soon there appeared three fantastic figures, robed in elaborately decorated white blankets, and wearing head dresses and masks the like of which I had never seen. They were dancers in every sense of the word, and their graceful pirouettes were most pleasing to look upon. Two of them were girls and the third was a young man. Their performance was to propitiate the devils who were besetting the Zunis, and before they had completed the circuit of the small plaza they were worked up to a fever heat of excitement. Following- them came sixty men in resplendent dresses of savage finery, all chanting the rhythm of the air announced by the priest. Two of them parried tom-toms and the time they kept was absolutely perfect. Hundreds of blanketed Indians thronged the housetops and looked on. Each one kept time to the music with hand or foot and apparently understood the meaning of the greater part of what he saw. The medicine man again appeared with his sacred meal and marked two crosses upon the ground in the middle of the plaza. The chanting broke forth uproariously and the dancing became faster md faster. Just at dusk the acting high priest entered the arena, turned first toward the east, then toward the west, then toward Ta' Yll'ani, chanted a brief prayer, and the dancers hurriedly departed through a passageway leading In the direction of the largest estufa in the village. I attempted to follow them, but could not for the simple reason that by the time I had clambered down from the roof every one of them had disappeared. I was informed, however, that during the night the dance would be resumed in the estufa, but that no spectators were allowed, at any rate, no Zunis, and that white people would not be welcomed. We waited until almost midnight, frequently passing the estufa and looking in, but saw only the priests and their acolytes sitting silently in rows, chanting and smoking. At midnight, however, the signal for the resumption of the dance was given. The silent period between dusk and this hour was evidently required for thought, prayer and consideration, in order that the further course of the dance might be correctly determined. The estufa contained two rooms, or, more properly, one large room and an anteroom, where the dance paraphernalia was kept. The main room was perhaps fifty by twenty feet. Two rows of twenty-one men each were formed down the center of this room. They were naked, except a breechclout, and their bodies were fancifully painted. The acting high priest took his stand at the head of the file, and each man took up a stick about two feet long, the upper end of which was ornamented with three waving turkey plumes. The lower end, to a length of fifteen inches, was whittled into the shape of a huge paper knife, rounded at the point. These wooden blades were very smfloth, were about two inches wide and slightly curved. While our entrance to the estufa was not resisted, yet I am convinced that the blue uniforms and bright shoulderstraps of the cavalry officers who accompanied me were the open sesame. We were cautioned not to touch any of the dancers or any of their paraphernalia, as such action would result li. dire misfortune.

The priest and two of the medicine men carried pine trees about eight feet high, the lewer ends of which -were shaped into blades, like the sticks in the hands of the men. The dance lasted more than an hour. The muscu-

lar movements of the dancers' bodies, the weird native music, the thumping of the tom-toms and shrill notes of the chant as announced by the priests, the writhing, sinuous contortions through which they worked themselves, the fanatical fervor which permeated everything— all these were noteworthy

and can be seen nowhere else. But the conclusion of the dance was the most sensational and startling feature of it all.

At a shrill cry from the priest, every plumed stick was raised on high and instantly thrust entirely down the ! throats of the dancers, only to be as quickly withdrawn amidst hissing, gurgling sounds and writhing contortions, as the chant and time of the dance Increased in vigor. Again and again were the wooden blades buried in the throats of the dancers, up to j their very hilts. Some of the men were i bleeding freely, but all were dancing furiously. Then the priest took up the trees, and, poising them for an instant, plunged their sharpened ends into their gullets, meanwhile uttering the most horrible guttural cries. It was a sight almost beyond belief, ] here in the midst of modern civilization. It is a relic of an almost forgotten age of barbarism, so remote that i its original significance will perhaps j never be known.

And in another estufa occurred the ; final tests for the fanatics who had : danced so many days. Again the ! double line was formed; again the [ chant was resumed; again the woes of the Zunis were rehearsed, and again self-torture was administered, but this time, worse than before. The medicine ! man and the priest entered, bearing ; bowls of live coals. As they passed to j and fro, along the lines, the dancers j caught up the glowing embers in their , naked hands and thrust them into their mouths. The hissing of the fire and the smell of scorching flesh was sickening — then the ceremony ended. W. J. ROHSE.

THE MYSTERIOUS PRIESTS OF THE BOW ON THE WAY TO PERFORM THEIR STRANGE RITES,

SCENE OVERLOOKING THE PLAZA WHERE THE ZUNIS ARE NOW GATHERED HOLDING ONE OF THEIR fIYSTERIOUS DANCES.

This time the dance lasted more than an hour. The muscular movements of the dancers' bodies, the weird native music, the thumping of the tom-toms and shrill notes of the chant as announced by the priests, the writhing, sinuous contortions through which they worked themselves, the fanatical fervor which permeated everything were amazing. But the conclusion of the dance was the most sensational and startling feature of all. At a shrill cry from the priest every plumed stick was raised on high and instantly thrust entirely down the throats of the dancers, only to be quickly withdrawn amid hissing, gurgling sounds and writhing contortions as the dance increased in vigor.