THE PIMA INDIANS
By Frank Russell
INTRODUCTION
From November, 1901, until June, 1902, the writer made his headquarters at Sacaton (see pl. I), on the Gila River reservation, in southern Arizona, where he was engaged in a study of the Pima tribe. With the aid of five native interpreters information was obtained from ten Pima men and women,[1] selected because of their intelligence and special aptitude in certain lines. With so many persons engaged in the investigations, the work of one frequently overlapped and served as a check on that of another. This made it possible to obtain a quite full account of Piman ethnology for the time employed. A house-to-house canvass of the villages, week after week, month after month, led to personal contact with nearly every household on the reservation and visits were made also to the Salt River Pimas and the desert Kwahadkʽs. One valuable result was the collection of more than 300 specimens illustrative of nearly all Piman arts, gathered from among a people whom poverty had induced to dispose of so many of their
- ↑ The name and a brief sketch of each of the author's informants and interpreters are here given:
Informants. Kâʼmâl tkâk, Thin Leather (pl. XLIV, b), an old man, is said to be the most popular of the few remaining narrators of myths and speeches, or "speakers." He is an intimate friend of the head chief, Antonio Azul (pl. II, a), and has always occupied a prominent place in the councils of the tribe. In his prime he exceeded 6 feet in stature and was strong and sturdy of frame. Indeed, his hand grasp is yet vigorous enough to make his silent and friendly greeting somewhat formidable. Intelligent, patient, dignified, his influence must have been helpful to these youths who formerly came to him for instruction. From him was obtained the cosmogonical myth of the tribe, many speeches, songs, and much general information. He also made a model of a loom and a few other specimens for the collection of material pertaining to the Pimas.
Sala Hina, Sarah Fish, or Hina (fig. 51), as she was called by her people, was recommended as one of the most intelligent of the older women. An earnest Christian, she had no scruples about relating all that she know concerning the religious beliefs of the tribe. She had undergone a long and exacting training in practical botany which rendered her a valuable assistant in gathering information concerning the economic plants of the region. Taught by gaunt Hunger, she and her kind had learned to know and use a large number of vegetal products. She inherited through her father some of the Kwahadkʽ potters' skill, which enabled her to impart valuable knowledge of the art and to furnish specimens.
Sikaʼtcu, Dry, an old woman, is the half sister of Antonio Azul and is one of the best known nurses and midwives about the Sacaton settlement. Though unable to speak English, after a few interviews with an interpreter she was quick to understand by means of signs and a few Pima words when to pose for photographs and the like. Among her earliest recollections was the sight of the covered wagons of the emigrant trains that followed the Gila route in such numbers during the early years of the California gold excitement. Her memory therefore extends over a quarter of a century of the period of bitterest
