Indians of the Mesa Verde

Occasionally, during the spring, a marriage takes place in Cliff Palace. When this happens there is much excitement and activity among the two clans affected. The clans are social divisions within the tribe. Each individual is born into a clan and that remains his social group throughout his life. In Cliff Palace, with its large population, there are many clans while in a small village there may be only one or two. The clans have very little to do with the religious life; they are a part of the social organization.

The pueblo society is matrilineal which merely means that the line of descent is through the women, not through the men. A child is born into its mother’s clan, never into its father’s. Property also belongs to the women and inheritance is figured through the female line. The husband lives with his wife in her house and his children belong to her clan. Marriage can never take place between two members of the same clan. This is a rigidly enforced taboo and the boy and girl must belong to different social groups. All of the members of a clan are considered as brothers and sisters, consequently there is little temptation to overstep this rule.

When a boy reaches the age of seventeen or eighteen and seems to be growing into manhood, his family begins to think of marriage for him. It is the responsibility of his elders to arrange this for there can be little happiness for a single person in a society of this type.

The boy himself has little opportunity for active romance. For some time he has been sending highly expressive glances in the direction of a certain young lady of a neighboring clan, glances loaded with question marks, flattery and many other signs from that most universal of all signal codes. Now and then an answering message flashes from her warm, brown eyes. In a very short while, and without a spoken word, an understanding grows up between them. Each would like to slip away to some quiet nook in the cliffs to take the matter up somewhat more directly but it is virtually impossible and decidedly unwise. The girl’s mother and her aunts have not missed a single one of those expressive glances. They do not disapprove in the slightest but they never give the girl a chance to slip away into the twilight. They may not distrust the girl but they certainly do not trust the spring moon that bathes the canyons in its warm, yellow light. Sometimes a young couple, unable to resist the call, does slip away into the night but it is very foolish. There is no secrecy in this crowded community and a twilight tryst never goes unnoticed. The juicy morsel spreads for Cliff Palace, being full of human beings, has its gossips. The marriage value of the young lady is lowered.

In the normal course of events the young man who has been carrying on the optical conversation with the young lady is finally unable to curb his emotions. He goes to his favorite uncle, or possibly to his mother and pours out his heart. Boasting of his manhood and his hunting and farming abilities he concludes that it is high time for him to have a home of his own. And he would like to marry a certain young lady.

Immediately a family council is called and the proposition is discussed at length. If the elders do not approve of the young lady, the young man is immediately squelched. There is no resisting the decision. The brokenhearted youngster will either nurse his sorrow until another maiden captures his fancy or meekly marry some girl whom his family selects.

Marriage is an important function and the union of strong healthy boys and girls is a responsibility that falls on the older clan members. Occasionally a headstrong youth who has allowed a deep, long-distance love to grow upon him rebels against a dictated marriage. In his heart, however, is an inborn, confident reverence for his elders and he is soon frowned into line.

If, on the other hand, the family council approves of his judgment, a delegation is soon sent to talk with the family of the girl. The virtues of the boy are extolled at great length and there is a mention of certain presents that the boy’s family will give to the family of the girl. The relatives of the girl tell of her virtue, industry and excellent health and let it be known that certain presents will be expected.

If the two families fail to reach an agreement the romance of the young couple is ended, but if they finally talk around to happy settlement, the next step is up to the young lady. Shortly after sunrise the next morning she goes to the boy’s house and for four days grinds corn in front of the boy’s mother to prove that she can do this most important work. It is a backbreaking task but she keeps at it diligently, knowing that her work must be satisfactory. At the end of the four-day period, the boy’s relatives examine the results of her labor. If the amount of corn meal does not please them the marriage is called off and the heartbroken young lady returns to her house.

If, however, they are satisfied with her grinding the marriage is agreed upon. It will not take place for weeks but there is much to be done. The boy and his family must get the gifts ready and it is the custom for the girl and her relatives to build a house.

In addition to presents which his family has promised to give to the girl’s family, the boy makes certain personal presents for his bride-to-be. He may make her a fine pair of sandals and may weave her a soft, warm feather blanket or even a beautiful white blanket of cotton.

The weaving of a cotton blanket may send him far afield. If his near relatives do not happen to have enough cotton on hand, he is forced to make a long journey to the south. The Mesa Verde people do not raise cotton and it is obtained by trade with tribes in the warmer lowlands. There are several men in Cliff Palace and other nearby cliff dwellings who are in need of cotton so an expedition is formed. These journeys are made each year and many of the older men are familiar with the route. Some of them act as guides for the young fellows who are going for the first time.

The Mesa Verde lacks certain important things; salt, seashells, cotton, turquoise and obsidian. In order to get these articles the men trade with other Indians who live to the south. Most of the men make occasional trading trips but some are professional traders who spend much of their time on long trading journeys.

For salt they must go to a salt lake 200 miles to the south. The salt is gathered around the edge of the lake, either by the men themselves or by other people with whom they trade. If the salt is dry it is carried home in bags but if it is gathered while wet, it is patted into balls which, when dried, are hard as rocks.

Obsidian and turquoise are obtained far to the southeast, near the big river. It is a journey of 200 miles to the turquoise mine but the deep blue stones are the finest known and are well worth the trip. Another source of turquoise is only 150 miles to the east, across the high mountains, but the Mesa Verde men seldom go in that direction. Hostile Indians live in the mountains and the parties do not always return.

Sea shells come from the great ocean far to the southwest but the men do not go all the way to the ocean for them. The shells are traded from tribe to tribe as they move inland. By the time the Mesa Verde men get them from Pueblo Indians who live to the southwest, the price is very high.

Cotton, which will not grow in the Mesa Verde because of the cool nights, must be obtained from other Pueblo Indians who live to the south and southwest. It grows well in the warmer lowlands and is one of the most important trade items. The men trade for the raw cotton fibers, usually, and weave them into blankets after they return home.

Trading expeditions are happy experiences for the men. They not only love to travel and meet other people but they love to trade. All along the route are villages of friendly Pueblo Indians and the travelers are honored guests in these villages. Traders are always welcome for they not only offer an opportunity for trading but they bring news from far countries.

The departure of the trading party is a gala occasion and all the people in Cliff Palace join to give it a noisy send-off. It is the first expedition of the spring so a great many men are in the party. As they start down the canyon, each man carries a large pack on his back. Most of a man’s burden consists of the things he will offer in trade when he reaches his destination. Perhaps he has tanned buckskin: the soft white leather has great value in the lands to the south where deer are scarce. He may have the skin of a spotted fawn he choked to death last summer. For ceremonial use the skins must not be pierced by arrows so the animals are caught and choked and such skins are excellent for trading purposes. Also, he may carry a number of large, highly-polished skinning blades made from a banded stone found near the Mesa Verde. This stone is well known over the pueblo region and the blades are highly prized.

In addition to his trading materials, a man carries his bow and arrows, a blanket, a small bowl and a little food. He will be able to kill rabbits, squirrels and rats along the way and almost every night he will stop at a friendly village so little food need be carried. A small amount of parched corn, some dried meat and perhaps a little corn meal of a special type is all he will need. The corn meal was prepared last fall for this very purpose. At harvest time the fresh corn was roasted, then ground into meal. This meal was thoroughly toasted and again was ground, this time very fine. The meal is so well cooked that a man need only stir it into a bowl of cold water to have a nourishing drink. The men know all of the streams and springs along the way so there will be no hardships unless they meet enemy people.

In two weeks the men begin to return and at the end of the month all are accounted for except a small party which went to the southeast for turquoise and obsidian. They are long overdue and at last the people give them up for lost. It merely means that they encountered a band of nomadic, warlike Indians and perished. Groups of savage hunters sometimes slip into the Pueblo country to prey upon the peaceful farmers and the pressure from these nomadic Indians is being felt more and more. There was a time, many generations ago, when the Mesa Verde people had no outside enemies and their villages were scattered over a vast area. At that time they lived in open pueblos out on the mesa tops and in all the broad valleys. Then nomadic hunting Indians began to drift into the Pueblo country. They raided the small villages, murdered the men, enslaved the women and children and destroyed the crops. In the border regions which were sparsely populated, village after village was destroyed by the raiders. As the pressure increased, the farming people deserted the valleys and the open mesa tops and for the last few generations they have lived in the cliff dwellings which they built in the caves of the Mesa Verde.

Cliff Palace has not yet been molested. It is in the midst of a large group of cliff dwellings and the population is so great the enemy people have not dared attack. But the men who have returned from their trading journeys have brought news of increasing enemy trouble in the surrounding regions and the people know the threat is coming closer.

This spring only the one party of traders was lost to the enemy. All the others have returned to the safety of their cave home and they tell of their journeys in great detail. They were received hospitably in Pueblo villages along the way and have brought home a good supply of the things the Mesa Verde does not provide; salt, turquoise, cotton and sea shells. They have also brought news from all the country to the south. Fires burn far into the night as the people listen to the tales from the outer world. The young men who made their first trip have become heroes and they make the most of the opportunity as they tell magnificent tales of the things they have done and seen. Most of them did well with their trading but a few gambled and lost, and have returned with nothing but their loincloths. That is not serious, however, and the great cave rings with laughter as the people torment the unfortunate gamblers.

The young man who needed cotton for his marriage blanket sets up a loom in his kiva and begins to weave. Older men in the clan help him with the spinning and the blanket grows steadily. The yarn is spun by hand until it is fine and even and the young weaver listens attentively to the advice of the older men as his weaving proceeds. This blanket is an expression of his feelings for the young lady and he makes it as nearly perfect as possible.

The bride-to-be is also busy for she and her relatives on her mother’s side must provide a house. The spot is chosen, either beside her mother’s house or on top of it and the walls begin to rise. The house will be the property of the girl and her wishes are respected but the real supervisor of operations is her mother. She is experienced in such matters and her tongue is sharp as she directs the many workers. All of the girl’s clan relatives help. The men do the heavy work of cutting roof poles and shaping the stones while the mortar work and plastering is the work of the women.

Stones for the house are not quarried. The men simply go out along the canyon slopes and pick up small rocks which are of the proper size, though of irregular shapes. As soon as a large pile is accumulated they begin to dress the stones. A few, well-directed blows from a heavy maul or hammer give a stone the general shape desired, then a thorough dressing with small pecking and rubbing stones gives it the final finish. The sandstone is soft and the men are skillful, so in spite of the simple tools the building stones are turned out surprisingly fast.

Mortar for the walls is prepared by the women. Gray clay is generally used and it needs only the addition of water to make a heavy, sticky mortar. The women do much of the work but they often call on the men for help. As the walls rise, prayer sticks are buried in the corners. These small, carved sticks are offerings to the Gods and assure the stability of the house. When the walls are as high as the builders’ heads, three or four heavy poles are laid across as main roof supports. Over these is spread a thatch of brush and withes and the roof is finished off with a layer of adobe three or four inches thick.

It takes only a few days to build the house if the builders are in a hurry but they seldom are. The house can be completed long before the boy’s weaving is finished, so the work is done leisurely. House building is a pleasant task. All of the close relatives in the girl’s clan work together and the hours are filled with laughter and practical jokes. There is much feasting and, of course, a happy celebration when the house is finished.

As the little structure rises there is a deep satisfaction in the hearts of the builders. They are helping a young couple reach their ultimate goal. To the home-loving people this goal is marriage, a home and children. Their lives point toward that end.

This tiny room will be home to the young couple for the rest of their lives. It is small, not over six by eight feet in size and the roof is so low that the husband will have to duck his head to miss the beams. The one door is very small, measuring only sixteen inches in width and twenty-four inches in height. The door sill is almost three feet above the floor and it will be awkward for the short, chubby little bride who is scarcely five feet tall. She will have difficulty straddling through the high opening, and will not dare grow too fat in later years. Older women often get so heavy that they can hardly squeeze through the tiny doors. But it has always been the custom to make the doors small and time-honored custom means more than the comfort of fat women.

There are no windows in the house and it has no firepit. Few of the women have fires inside their houses and cooking is done in the courts. Some of the older women who suffer from rheumatism and arthritis have fires in their houses but the smoke is very bad.

The final step in the construction of the house is the plastering. This is left to the young bride-to-be and she does it with loving care. A smooth coat of plaster, a few red designs and the house is finished. Her husband will come to live in it with her but it will always be her property. She is terribly proud of it. Being uncivilized she feels that her home and children will be the most important things in her life.

All of the houses in Cliff Palace are much like this one. They are small, simple rooms that serve principally as sleeping quarters and for the storage of possessions. Most of the activities take place in the open courts and on the roofs of the terraced structures so there is no need for large houses. They would be difficult to warm in winter and would reduce the number of families that could live in the cave.

After weeks, sometimes months, of leisurely preparation it is time for the boy to move to the girl’s house. He has finished the presents he will give to her, the house has been built and the two families have exchanged the presents originally agreed upon. There is no actual wedding ceremony. The boy moves his personal property; his clothing, weapons and tools from his mother’s house to the girl’s house. They are now husband and wife. Although he is only eighteen and she only fifteen they have entered the serious phase of life and must bear their share of the community responsibility.

The first few weeks of married life are difficult for the young husband. He is living in the midst of his wife’s relatives who are watching him critically. If he fails to fit in, his life will not be pleasant and the marriage may not last. Most marriages, however, are successful for the young husbands, being still pliable, are able to adjust themselves to their in-laws. In some cases the house is not built until the young husband has lived for a time with the wife’s relatives and is fully approved by them.

If the marriage is not a success, divorce is simple. Perhaps the husband decides it is hopeless, not because he does not love his wife, but because he can not stand her relatives. He simply picks up his personal belongings and goes back to his mother’s house. If the wife decides to call it off, it is equally direct. One day when he is out hunting or working in the fields she throws all of his personal possessions out of her house. When the husband returns, he cannot argue for all of her relatives are there to defend her decision. So back to his mother he goes.

If there are children in the family they remain with the mother for children always belong to the mother’s clan. They will be cared for by her relatives until she marries again.

In April a period of frenzied activity begins for the men of Cliff Palace. It will soon be planting time and the fields must be prepared for that all-important time when the precious seeds will be placed in the earth. The frost has left the soil and it is dry enough to be worked so each morning the men and boys trot up the trails to the mesa tops to spend the day preparing the soil for planting. The fields are scattered far and wide over the mesas. Most of the men from Cliff Palace have their farms nearby but some trot miles across the flat mesa tops to farm certain favored plots. These men who have descended from a thousand years of farmers have an uncanny ability to select the best areas for farming.

The fields are seldom large and they are never regular in shape. An acre here, a few acres there, they dot the mesa tops, the rich red soil standing out sharply against the green cover of the vast “green table.” The heavy snows of winter have filled the earth with moisture which will carry the crops through the dry, hot weather of early summer. Then the late summer rains will come and the worries of the farmers will be over.

Many of the men like to farm in the low draws above the heads of the canyons. There is deep, rich soil there and a concentration of moisture that produces the finest crops. Such draws are not large but they make excellent farming areas. The men even enlarge them by building terraces where the draws are too narrow and steep for normal farming. Low dams of stones are built across the drainage, seldom more than three or four feet high and twenty or thirty feet long. The heavy rains of summer wash rich soil from the mesas and deposit it behind the dams. Soon each one becomes a terrace large enough for a few hills of corn, beans or squash. Sometimes there are as many as a hundred of these terraces in a single small draw. In a dry year, when the plants on the mesa tops die from lack of moisture, these terraces usually produce a crop. Even a slight rain causes water to drain down across them and they assure a small harvest.

The early spring work consists of clearing the trash and weeds out of the fields and stirring up the soil for planting. Dead weeds are pulled out of the ground and burned and the first green weeds of spring are prodded out of the soil with digging sticks. Some of the men even begin to stir up the soil where they will later place the seeds. Corn is sometimes planted almost a foot in the earth so each hill requires a great deal of effort. The plants grow better if the soil is loosened up so the men select the spots for the hills and begin to dig up the soil and turn it over.

The only tool is a digging stick, a slender hardwood limb that has one end sharpened into a chisel-like blade. Small digging sticks may be only an inch screen in diameter and a foot in length but the large ones are sometimes three inches in diameter and five feet long. The upper end of the large ones is rounded into a knob that serves as a handhold and near the base may be a prong so the foot can be used in forcing the blade into the soil.

Sometimes a stone blade is attached to the digging stick. The stone for these blades is found down across the big river, forty miles to the southwest. That is a short easy journey: the young men make the round trip in three or four days and return with long slabs of stone. For days the men grind these on pieces of sandstone until a long thin blade, two or three inches wide and from six to ten inches in length, is formed. The stone is a light tan color, with thin bands of red and brown and it takes a beautiful polish. When one of these blades is bound firmly to a long handle it makes a very serviceable tool for turning up the soil and chopping out weeds.

While the men are preparing the fields the medicine men are watching the weather very carefully. It is their duty to set the planting date. There are countless signs they must take into consideration. The return of certain birds from the south is observed and the appearance and growth of spring plants is watched carefully. The clouds and the sky are observed constantly and the wind is tested many times a day. All of these things have a meaning. Countless generations of medicine men have developed a “weather sense” and barring occasional mistakes they are quite accurate in their predictions.

The planting date finally will be set by the Sun Watcher, a priest who throughout the year observes the movements of the sun. Each evening, as planting time approaches, he stands on the roof of his house and notes where the setting sun sinks behind the western horizon. Each day it comes closer to a large crack in the opposite canyon wall: when it reaches the crack it will be planting time. The moon also is watched and the priests note with satisfaction that a thin new moon is climbing higher in the western sky each evening. Planting must be done while the moon is growing larger. The corn will then grow as the moon grows. If it is planted while the moon is waning the corn will wither and die.

In addition to setting the planting date, the priests must also perform certain ceremonies over the seeds that are to be planted. Spring is not an important ceremonial season for the men are too busy to spare time for the long, elaborate ceremonies. Certain rites must be performed, however, and offerings must be made to certain gods so they will smile upon the people. It is a simple form of “crop insurance.”

The fertility rites are especially important for unless the gods of fertility and reproduction are pleased, the seeds will rot in the ground without sprouting. Around the precious seeds the priests and their helpers perform the ancient rites. Year after year the ritual is the same; countless generations of priests have developed this elaborate formula that is followed in the finest detail. There is endless chanting, parts of the legends are dramatized, and there are offerings of prayer sticks, corn pollen, cornmeal and perfect ears of corn. If the ceremonies are properly performed the germ gods will be pleased and the seeds will sprout and grow well.

As the end of spring draws near everything is in readiness. The germination ceremonies are over and the fields are ready for the planting. The eager farmers await the nod of the priests which will send them scurrying to the fields to plunge the seeds into the earth.

In any normal year in the Mesa Verde there are several days of rain about the middle of May. The farmers like to plant their crops just before the rains come in order that they may get the greatest benefit from the moisture. If the planting is done too early, however, there is danger of late frosts so the medicine men are in a dangerous position. If they sanction the planting too soon, frosts may nip the tender young shoots, while if they hold off too long the rains may come. Not only will the planting be delayed many days but much of the benefit of the moisture will be lost.

Carefully, the priests watch the signs. The birds, the plants, the sun, the moon; everything goes through the regular progression of spring. The sun is moving farther and farther to the north and each evening the eyes of the people are on the Sun Watcher as he makes his sunset observations. At last the important day comes. As the sun sinks behind the horizon the Sun Watcher climbs down from his house top and hurries to the home of the Crier Chief. Immediately the Crier Chief steps out on his roof to make the announcement. The sun, he tells the waiting people, has reached the proper point; today it set directly behind the crack in the opposite canyon wall. It is planting time.

The next morning each man is off to his field at sunrise, carrying the various items of equipment he will need. The seed corn, only a small amount of which will be needed this first day, is carried in a pouch made from the entire skin of a fawn. The head and legs dangle grotesquely as the farmer throws the pouch over his shoulder. At harvest time last fall the finest ears of corn were selected for seed and ceremonies were performed to assure germination and growth. During the winter it was stored where it would be safe from dampness, mice and weevils.

In addition to his pouch of corn the farmer carries his planting stick, a plumed prayer stick and a small bag of corn meal. As he leaves his house, bowls of water are poured over him by the women of his household. This is symbolic of rain and will cause the summer rains to fall upon the crops.

Upon reaching his field the farmer goes to a well-known spot at the very center. With his digging stick he digs four holes, each one almost a foot deep. The first hole is north of the center spot, the second is to the west, the third is to the south and the fourth is to the east. On the west side of the northern hole he digs another which represents the sky regions and on the east side of the southern hole another which represents the lower regions.

In the center of the space bounded by the six holes he kneels, facing the east and with cornmeal paints a cross on the ground. Murmuring a prayer, he plants the plumed prayer stick in the center of the cross and sprinkles it with cornmeal.

Now he moves out of the central space and opens his bag of seed corn. Carefully he selects four grains of each color—yellow, blue, red, white, speckled and black. Returning to the central space, he kneels facing the northern hole and begins to chant. At the proper point in the chant he drops the four yellow grains into the hole. Shifting to the westward, he continues his chant and drops the four blue grains into the western hole. Chanting without a break, he goes from one hole to the next. The red corn is dropped into the southern hole, the white corn into the eastern hole, the speckled corn into the hole representing the sky regions and the black corn into the hole representing the lower regions.

Now the ceremony is over and he fills in the holes where the seeds have been planted. Picking up his pouch of seed corn and his planting stick, he plants four long rows of corn, each one starting at his little central plot. One row extends to the north, another to the west, another to the south and the final row to the east.

When his seed is exhausted, he is through for the day and returns to the village. The rest of the field can not be planted until four days have passed. During that time he will go through many rituals of prayer, will place offerings at shrines and will not eat forbidden foods. Also, he will avoid trading, gambling and certain other pleasures.

After four days have passed, the remaining portions of each field are planted. This is done without ceremony and as hurriedly as possible for everything indicates that the May rains are near. There is a light haze in the sky and the air feels warm and damp. The moisture is in the air; only an east wind is needed to bring it down. Planting must be completed, if possible, before the east wind comes.

All of the men and boys, even some of the women, help with the planting. Shortly after sunrise they leave the village and scatter out to the many mesa-top fields. Food is brought to them by groups of young girls and the planting continues almost without interruption until sunset.

Planting methods are simple. A hole is dug, the seeds are dropped in, and the earth is pushed back into the hole. Light pressure with the foot compacts the moist soil about the seeds. Corn is planted almost a foot deep and a dozen or more kernels are placed in each hill. Beans and squash are given a shallower planting with fewer seeds in the hills. Sometimes the corn, beans and squash are planted in separate plots but often they are all planted together in the same field.

There are no rows, simply individual hills planted from five to eight feet apart with no effort toward orderliness. The only care exercised in the location of the hills is that they must not be in the same spot as those of last year. Enough stubs from the last year’s crop have been left in place to indicate where not to plant. By changing the location of the hills each season and by wide planting the men save the soil, for it may be years before two hills are planted in the same spot.

The planting proceeds rapidly with the men digging the holes and the boys and girls dropping the seeds. Plot after plot is completed and the tension begins to lessen. In a few days every field is planted and the happy farmers sit back to wait for the rain. It is not long in coming. One evening the wind swings to the east and during the night the people are awakened by the pleasant sound of rain in the canyons. There are contented smiles on their faces as they are lulled back to sleep by the swishing waterfall that pours over the front of the cave.

The rain lasts for days. It is a soft, warm spring rain, a female rain. There is none of the bluster that will come with the male rains of late summer. Day and night it falls, and the earth, well-loosened by the winter frosts, drinks up the moisture.

There is happiness in Cliff Palace for an abundant harvest is now almost assured. The men gather in small groups along the front terraces, chatting gaily as they watch the rain. In their minds they see the grains of corn swell and burst, to send thin green shoots toward the light. In spite of the rain and mud some of them trot up to the mesa tops to look at the fields. They know exactly how the fields look but still they must see them. Nothing has happened. The earth is taking up the moisture, weeds are shooting out of the ground, but none of their plants have broken the surface. Drenched, they return to the cave to spread the word that all is well up on the mesa top.

The rainy days are days of rest for the men but they are days of strenuous activity for the women and girls. All of the great water jars must be filled and stored away. As soon as the spring rains are over the dry period will begin. It may be two months before there is another drop of rain so the storage of abundant supplies of water is of vital importance.

In the canyon below Cliff Palace is a series of dams. The first one is just below the trash pile at the front of the cave while the last one is far down the canyon. Several of the dams are quite large, five or six feet in height and over twenty feet in length. These dams are not like the farming terraces up on the mesas. They are for water storage, so they are kept cleaned out and are not allowed to silt up. Being made of large stones, chinked with smaller stones and adobe, they act as perfect barriers for the rain water that drains down the canyon. All of the dams have been cleaned out and repaired during the spring and the rain soon fills each one to overflowing. The great pools of water thus retained sometimes last the people of Cliff Palace until the summer rains come.

In addition to the storage pools the women also store great quantities of water in their jars. Hundreds of the large vessels have been made; each woman has several. As the rain sends streams of clear water cascading down the cliffs the women fill these jars and set them away in the cave, each one covered with a close-fitting stone lid. Scattered through the city are innumerable small rooms that are too small for living purposes. They are for the storage of corn and beans. Many of the rooms are still full of grain but some were emptied last winter and they now make a perfect place for storage of the precious jars of water. Long before the spring rains are over the jars are all filled and safely stored away.

As the rains begin to show signs of subsiding the men keep watchful eyes on the dams in the canyon. Some are built higher, others are strengthened so that when the rains cease and the dry weather begins they will be holding every possible drop of water. The great pools are shaded by cliffs and trees and they will keep the water cool and fresh far into the summer. With the water that is contained in the pools and the water jars, and the daily flow from nearby springs the people have little fear of water shortage.

After several days of almost continuous rain the skies clear and the sun beats down on a damp, green world. The warmth and moisture cause every growing thing to reach for the sky. Weeds spring up everywhere and after a few days the red soil of the fields is broken by the green shoots of sprouting plants. There is a splendid stand; the gods of fertility have heard the prayers of the people.

As spring slips into summer the people of Cliff Palace seem happy and contented. Everything indicates that a normal, prosperous year is in store for them and they should face it with light hearts. For the most part they do and during the spring there has been much gaiety and happiness in the town. But often the smiles are only on the surface—underneath is a deep, ever-present fear. Sometimes, when all goes well, this fear is almost forgotten. Then something happens and everyone is reminded of the evil beings who are always present—witches!

From earliest childhood each person has been taught to fear these creatures. Witches are evil human beings who have great supernatural power. They have only one desire—to harm and destroy people. Almost all diseases are caused by witches. They shoot objects into people whom they wish to harm; stones, rags, thorns, insects, bits of bone or even flesh from a corpse. Sometimes they even steal a person’s heart. When a witch uses his power against anyone, death is the result unless a medicine man breaks the evil spell.

Witches may injure a person or they may work against the entire community. They bring on epidemics, they cause floods and high winds and they can even keep the rain from falling. A witch may not always be in human form; sometimes it takes the form of a dog, a coyote or an owl. But always it is a menace because of the desire to harm and destroy.

Only the medicine men can recognize witches and overpower them, for they have the same power as the witches. But the medicine men work for the people and there is a constant struggle between them and the evil beings. If a person is ill, the medicine man sucks out the object which a witch has shot into his body. If a witch steals someone’s heart, the medicine man searches for it and restores it to the afflicted person.

Since the people of Cliff Palace know that witches are always present they try never to offend anyone. A next-door neighbor, even a member of one’s own family, may be a witch and to offend him would be to invite disaster. Any person may be a witch so the people are suspicious of all unusual actions. If a man is jealous or constantly unhappy, if he roams about at night, or if he is seen lurking outside a house where someone is ill, he may find himself accused of witchcraft. For such a man life becomes a miserable affair. He is shunned by everyone and finally may be driven from the town. Or he may be punished severely and, if he persists in his evil ways, may be executed.

During the spring the witches have caused only a little trouble in the town. There has been some illness and a few people have died but it was nothing compared to what we shall see when winter comes. That is the time when the witches will be most active.

As spring ends the people are well satisfied with what they have accomplished for all the necessary work has been done. Houses have been repaired, new houses have been built and several young couples have married. Hunting has been good and the trading journeys, except for the loss of one party, were successful. Several new fields were cleared, much pottery was made and sufficient water is in storage. The fields have all been planted and, above all, the spring ceremonies have been performed.

The people of Cliff Palace are happy and contented as Spring turns into summer.

5
SUMMER

Summer is an easy time for the people of Cliff Palace, a warm, lazy time. There are certain tasks to be performed but there is also much leisure time for sleeping in the shade, gossiping, gambling and trading. There is not the restless activity which was so evident during the spring. Life proceeds at a slow, easy pace.

The early summer is dry and warm. Little rain can be expected until in July; sometimes it does not come until August. The crops in the fields must live on the moisture stored in the earth and the people must live on the water they have stored in their pools and water jars, and the daily flow from the springs. Water is always the critical problem but this year conditions are very favorable.

June is often the hottest month of the summer. The sky is cloudless and the sun beats down day after day, drawing the moisture out of the earth. In the sun the temperature is high but the shade is cool and pleasant. The air is dry and a light breeze always blows across the mesa tops. The shade of even a small tree brings relief from the warmth of the sun.

Little clothing is worn. The women have small aprons of dangling yucca fiber strings while the men may wear loin-cloths of buckskin or cotton cloth. Children wear nothing at all. Yucca fiber sandals usually are worn by both men and women when they leave the cave but they are not essential about the city itself. The people of Cliff Palace are not clothes conscious and with their rich brown skins they need no protection from the sun. Even the men, who spend long hours in the sunny fields, need no covering.

The farmers are all smiles for their crops are growing prodigiously. Corn, beans and squash are growing well. Weeds are also prospering and the men pull them up or chop them out with their digging sticks. If the weeds are not destroyed, they take moisture that the crops need.

Every morning, not long after sunrise, the men trot up to the fields. For a few hours they work industriously, chopping weeds or loosening the soil around the plants. Earth is kept piled up around the stalks of corn. It was planted almost a foot deep and this heaping up of the earth around the hills puts the roots even farther underground. At that depth there is an abundance of moisture in the soil.

Along towards noon, when the sun is high over head and the heat becomes noticeable, the men end their labors. Some of them trot back down to the cave for a late breakfast. Others, whose fields are farther from the town, have brought their lunches and they spend the warm midday hours in the shade of the trees which border their fields.

These men have a deep, inborn love for farming. They are descended from a thousand years of successful farmers and a fanatical desire to make things grow is in their blood. They often go to the fields when there is nothing to be done. The weeds have been cut, the soil is well loosened, everything is just right. Still the men go to the fields to spend the hours among the growing things. Every hill of corn, every bean plant receives individual attention. Endlessly the men work about the fields, even though they only pick an occasional bug off the plants.

During the midday siesta the men often gather in little groups and while away the hours telling of crops of the past or dreaming of the harvest that is to come. Those hours are not always spent idly for there are many tasks the men can do as they sit in the shade. One man may chip arrowheads; another may whittle away on his new bow. Here a man is patching his sandals while his neighbor puts a new blade on his digging stick. Much can be accomplished during these hours when the sun is high and the shade is welcome.

The fields are never left without watchers. All day long someone is on guard and even during the night the young men and boys take turns watching the precious crops. Rabbits and squirrels eat the beans, and ravens and crows pull up the tender young corn plants. In a few hours a field can be ruined. Later on in the summer, crows, jays and ravens will tear at the ears of corn and eat great holes in the tender squashes. Even the coyotes like the squashes and as one of the animals trots through the field he may take great bites out of half a dozen. Faced with this danger, the farmers are forced to watch the fields day and night. The unmarried boys build brush shelters in the fields and spend much of the summer there, dreaming of the chubby little maidens for whom they will soon be farming.

The boys do not like to spend the night in the fields for witches are most active during the hours of darkness and it is a bad time to be away from the town. When a coyote howls or an owl hoots, they know it may be a witch so they throw more wood on their fires and smear ashes on their foreheads to keep the witches away.

As the dry weather of summer continues the people show much concern over the water supply. They know that if the late summer rains come normally, they will have more than enough. But if, as sometimes happens, the rains fail to come, they will be in serious trouble. They prepare for this possibility by carefully conserving the supplies. In order to save the water that is stored in the jars and in the pools below the cave the springs are utilized to the utmost. There are many of these springs along the canyon walls at the foot of the cliffs. One of the finest is across the canyon, under the great ceremonial building where the priests hold their most important ceremonies. It is almost half a mile by trail to the spring but it has a strong flow of water. In spite of the long, tiresome journey, the water must be saved. That is one of the tragedies in the lives of the men. They are forced to carry the water home from distant springs—on their wives’ heads.

Each morning the women make the round of the springs to gather the water that has accumulated. At each place where there is a seepage they have made a basin of well-tamped blue shale. The water does not seep readily through this shale and a pool of clear water results. The best springs are visited several times a day so that the pools do not overflow. With their long-handled ladles the women dip the water into their jars, some of which hold as much as five gallons. The heavy jars are then borne home on their heads. Years of practice have given them strong necks, straight backs and a smooth, flowing stride. They chat happily as they trot home with their burdens: life is gay and easy with nothing to do but carry water up out of the canyon. By carrying the water jars on their heads the women have their hands free when they climb the rows of toe-holds that are cut into the more precipitous cliffs. Ladders that lead up over the terraced houses are simple: the water carriers trot up them without deigning to touch their hands to the poles.

Each woman has a small pad of yucca fibers, shaped like a large doughnut, which she places between her head and the water jar. This pad helps in balancing the burden and keeps her calloused head from cracking the precious jar.

Every effort is made to conserve the water supply, for as the warm weather continues the springs begin to dwindle and the pools shrink. There is no repairing and building of houses; water cannot be spared for the mortar. Pottery is seldom made at this time for that, too, requires water. By using it only for human needs the supply can be drawn out for months if necessary.

In addition to their water carrying activities the women are also busy gathering the edible plants that are so common during the summer. These plants add variety to the diet and help to conserve the stores of grain. In June the mesa tops are covered with flowers of all kinds and the women admire them and call them by name as they search for the plants that have value as food or medicine. The leaves and fruit of the prickly pear are eaten; also the beautiful waxy flowers and the tender flower stem of the yucca. Lily bulbs, wild onions, beeweed, sumac berries and Mormon tea are only a few of the natural products which the women gather. They know every seed, root, bulb, berry and plant that has value and they search the mesas and canyons in order to obtain these additional foods and flavors.

Occasionally the women interrupt the usual routine of their daily tasks in order to give birth to babies. It is a pleasant diversion for children are highly prized in this society. A woman continues her regular work almost until time for the happy event. Being strong and active she ordinarily goes through it without great difficulty. Her mother is in charge of the affair but if all does not go well, a medicine man is called in to chant her through her troubles.

Shortly after birth the baby is bathed and is rubbed with juniper ashes to protect it from witches and other evil influences. It is then placed on a bed of hot sand and a perfect ear of corn is kept always beside it. For twenty days the mother and child are kept in the house away from strong light and every fifth day the mother’s hair is washed with yucca suds and she is bathed with water in which juniper twigs have been boiled.

At sunrise on the twentieth day the child’s head is washed. Then its grandmother on its father’s side takes it to the top of the cliff and with a little ceremony of prayer, dedicates it to the Sun Father. On this day it is named and since all of its aunts and both grandmothers have the privilege of giving it a name, the baby may receive a dozen. One name finally wins out and the others are forgotten.

For several months the child is kept on a cradle board most of the time. This is merely a thin, smooth board to which the child is bound with soft folds of cotton cloth or buckskin and a lacing of strings. No pillow is provided and the soft, pliable head rests on the hard board month after month. The result is obvious. Gradually the back of the head flattens until it fits the board.

This change of head shape has no effect on the child except in the matter of appearance. As the skull presses in at the back it bulges out over the ears. The brain adjusts itself to the changing shape of its container and suffers no ill effects. As a result of the use of this hard cradle board, all of the people have the deformity on the back of the head. Sometimes it is terrific and the head is as wide as it is long.

The cradle board makes the care of the child very simple. The mother may carry it on her back as she goes about her work. She may hang it on a tree or on a roof pole or lean it up against the house. When the child is on its cradle board it is in no danger of rolling off the roof or over a cliff. Occasionally it is taken off the cradle and the juniper bark pad that serves as a diaper is changed. When the child reaches the age where it must learn to walk, it will be released from the cradle and will be placed in the constant care of an older sister or some other little girl of its clan.

For the first six or seven years, children lead carefree lives. They have no responsibilities and nothing is expected of them except that they survive and be happy. If they do wrong they are seldom punished physically but are talked to at great length. And quite often they are frightened into good behavior by tales of witches and what they do to bad children.

All of the children are up at dawn and the day’s play begins. The very young ones must stay within the cave where they climb over the houses and play on the roofs and in the courts. After they are a little older they play on the canyon slope below the cave and finally they are big enough to play along the cliffs beside the town. All through the day the echoes of their voices and laughter fill the canyon.

At the age of six or seven, this life of constant play ends and they begin to learn, by imitating their parents, all they must know to fit into the life of the community. A little girl follows her mother wherever she goes and imitates her in every activity. When the mother makes pottery her small daughter makes crude, miniature pieces: when the mother bakes corn cakes her little shadow bakes tiny cakes of mud and, after a time, is allowed to use the precious corn meal itself. When the mother goes to the spring the little girl trots at her heels and soon she is carrying small jars of water on her head. She spends long hours at the grinding bin and equally long hours caring for younger brothers and sisters. As she grows older, she accepts more and more responsibility and finally, when marriage comes, she is an accomplished housewife.

In the same manner the small boy goes through a long period of training. At sunrise he tumbles out of his blankets to listen and watch attentively as his father says his morning prayer and tosses an offering of corn meal or corn pollen to the gods of dawn. He follows his father to the fields and as soon as he is old enough, accompanies him on hunting trips. When his father makes bows, arrows, flint knives, bone awls and the many other tools, the boy imitates him, in miniature, and gradually learns all the necessary crafts.

Most important of all to the youth is his religious education and this is in the hands of his “ceremonial father.” When the boy was born one of his mother’s brothers was selected for this task and he is responsible for the religious training of his young nephew. The two spend long hours together as the uncle tells the legends and beliefs of the tribe. Since there is no written language, these can be learned only through hearing them repeated over and over. During the first years of training the boy learns only the general things which all the people may know but when he is twelve or fourteen he is ready for the secret part of his religious training. Under the sponsorship of his “ceremonial father” he is taken into one of the kivas and initiated into the secret society to which his “ceremonial father” belongs. Now he is taught the secrets of the society and its ceremonies and soon he begins to take part in the ceremonial work. From this time on the kiva plays an important part in the young man’s life. He goes there not only for ceremonial purposes but to work, loaf, gamble or even to sleep. If his mother’s house is crowded with younger children, he may sleep in his kiva most of the time until he marries. And even after marriage he may sleep within the safe confines of the kiva during occasional periods of strife in his home.

As the dry weather continues the men keep an anxious eye on the sky. Certain conditions must develop before the rains can come. In June there is a sigh of relief from the farmers. The sky is no longer a solid canopy of blue. Along the northeastern horizon great white clouds begin to appear. At first they are small but each day they grow larger. Soon they are tremendous, billowy, white thunderheads that boil up until they cover half the sky. Soon they will break and the worries of the farmers will be over.

The crops are growing well. By the end of June the corn is almost knee high and the men thin it out. The weak stalks are pulled out of each hill leaving the five or six strongest ones. The fight against weeds is continued but during most of the summer the men have a great deal of time for other activities.

During the times when they are not completely occupied with their farms they work at their various crafts and as a result there is much trading. Each man needs certain things such as turkey feather blankets, cotton blankets, jewelry, tanned buckskin, sandals, leggings, bows, arrows, planting sticks, stone knives and scrapers, yucca fiber cords and ropes, axes, hammers, and countless other things. Some of the men can and do make any or all of these things. Most of the men, however, specialize on the things they can do best and trade for their other necessities.