The Pima Indians/Introduction

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The Pima Indians (1908)
by Frank Russell

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4420724The Pima Indians1908Frank Russell

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 old belongings that for a month or two after going into their midst there seemed but little opportunity of securing anything approaching a representative series. Several specimens that were finally discovered are believed to be the very last of their kind among the Pimas, though of course such a statement must be made with reserve. Prof. J.J. Thornber, of the University of Arizona, accompanied the party on a round trip of 80 miles along the Gila river and to him the collection is indebted for about 50 herbarium specimens, representing the larger portion of the economic plants of the Pimas that are susceptible of preparation in this way. To him also is due the credit of examining end identifying the mass of material gathered by the persons engaged at Casa Blanca and Gila Crossing. As complete a list as possible of the plants used for food, medicine, and the like was made, after which the services of both men and women were enlisted to point out the plants in the course of a trip through the river bottoms or on the hills. Furthermore, a number of sets of seeds was obtained, a portion of which were planted during the summer of 1902 for the purpose of raising plants that could not otherwise be identified. Unfortunately, the season proved too dry for them to germinate and the list is consequently less complete than it should be. The Pima name is given in all cases.

The American people owe the Pimas a lasting debt of gratitude. The California pioneers that traversed the southern route before the days of transcontinental railroads often owed their lives to the friendly brown-skinned farmers whom they met upon the Gila.^[2] This tribe rendered notable assistance as scouts in the long contest with the Apaches. Even had they remained neutral, they would have deserved friendly consideration on the part of the whites, but as they fought bravely in the latter's behalf justice requires that their services be accorded proper recognition.

The Pimas live in two river valleys that are strewn with the ruins of prehistoric buildings and other evidences of the presence of a considerable population that had attained probably the highest degree of civilization or culture to be found north of Mexico. The present race has been variously regarded as the descendants of the one that has disappeared, as having amalgamated with it, and as being entirely independent of it. The determination of the exact relationship of the two groups has been held constantly in mind during the course of these investigations. Closely connected with this principal problem are those problems of the extent and direction of the migrations of men and culture toward the Sierra Madre, the Rio Grande, the Pacific, and the plateau to the northward. Was this a center of culture or was it a halting place in the march of clans?

↑ 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 warfare between the Pimas and the Apaches. After several months acquaintance with this old woman Mrs Russell obtained from her much information concerning the Pima woman's views of warfare us well as knowledge of facts pertaining to various customs, especially those peculiar to her sex.
Antonio Azul (see pl. II, a) was the head chief of the tribe, and from him much information concerning war customs and recent history was obtained.
Kiʼsatc, Cheese, an old Santan pariah, had employed such wit as grudging nature had endowed him with in practising the arts of the medicine-man. His contributions, while of a minor character, proved to be of interest.
William Blackwater, an elderly Pima, had taken an active part in the later history of the village of Blackwater, which is situated at the eastern end of the reservation. He was employed but a short time and gave information concerning history and customs.
Haʼhali, or Juan Thomas, Christian Pima who was formerly a medicine-man, contributed much valuable information concerning the "occult." He also furnished a calendar record and made a number of specimens illustrating the medicine-man's paraphernalia.
Tcoʼkŭt Nak, Owl Ear (pl. II, b), an old man, lived at the Salt River village and was the first from whom a calendar record was obtained.
Benjamin Thompson, so far as could be learned, kept the only calendar in the central group of villages about Casa Blanca, and he related the events that are commemorated by it.
Kâemâ-â, Rattlesnake Head (pl. II, c), a chief, is known to the whites as Joseph Head. He gave an excellent specimen of a calendar record and stick.
Interpreters. The principal interpreter, who was employed by the month during the entire period of the writer's stay, was José Lewis, a Papago who had lived from childhood among tha Pimas. He had once been engaged by the Bureau of American Ethnology to write a vocabulary of his own language and to supply other information, so that he was acquainted with the phonetic alphabet and other approved methods of procedure. He was engaged in linguistic work the greater part of the time.
Melissa Jones, the official interpreter at the agency, was employed to interpret the statements of Sikaʼtcu, her mother, known to the whites as "Old Mary," and also at intervals on the calendars.
Jacob L. Roberts spoke quite as good English as the averige white man of the country and was employed to secure Tcoʼkŭt Nak's calendar (pl. II, b) and for the final revision of the linguistic material.

Carl Smart, of Sacaton, and Thomas Allison, of Blackwater, were occasionally engaged as temporary interpreters. In addition to these there were half a dozen others who were employed for from one to three days each at the lower villages.
↑ Sylvester Mowry, lieutenant in the Third Artillery, in an address before the American Geographical Society, in New York, February 3, 1859 (Arizona and Sonora, 3d ed., 30), said: "Much as we pride ourselves upon our superior government, no measures [the United States Government have [sic] since, under urgent pressure of the writer, made some small appropriations for the Pima Indians] have been taken to continue our friendly relations with the Pimos; and to our shame be it said, it is only to the forbearance of these Indians that we owe the safety of the life of a single American citizen in central or western Arizona, or the carriage of the mails overland to the Pacific."

[p22-1] 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 warfare between the Pimas and the Apaches. After several months acquaintance with this old woman Mrs Russell obtained from her much information concerning the Pima woman's views of warfare us well as knowledge of facts pertaining to various customs, especially those peculiar to her sex.
Antonio Azul (see pl. II, a) was the head chief of the tribe, and from him much information concerning war customs and recent history was obtained.
Kiʼsatc, Cheese, an old Santan pariah, had employed such wit as grudging nature had endowed him with in practising the arts of the medicine-man. His contributions, while of a minor character, proved to be of interest.
William Blackwater, an elderly Pima, had taken an active part in the later history of the village of Blackwater, which is situated at the eastern end of the reservation. He was employed but a short time and gave information concerning history and customs.
Haʼhali, or Juan Thomas, Christian Pima who was formerly a medicine-man, contributed much valuable information concerning the "occult." He also furnished a calendar record and made a number of specimens illustrating the medicine-man's paraphernalia.
Tcoʼkŭt Nak, Owl Ear (pl. II, b), an old man, lived at the Salt River village and was the first from whom a calendar record was obtained.
Benjamin Thompson, so far as could be learned, kept the only calendar in the central group of villages about Casa Blanca, and he related the events that are commemorated by it.
Kâemâ-â, Rattlesnake Head (pl. II, c), a chief, is known to the whites as Joseph Head. He gave an excellent specimen of a calendar record and stick.
Interpreters. The principal interpreter, who was employed by the month during the entire period of the writer's stay, was José Lewis, a Papago who had lived from childhood among tha Pimas. He had once been engaged by the Bureau of American Ethnology to write a vocabulary of his own language and to supply other information, so that he was acquainted with the phonetic alphabet and other approved methods of procedure. He was engaged in linguistic work the greater part of the time.
Melissa Jones, the official interpreter at the agency, was employed to interpret the statements of Sikaʼtcu, her mother, known to the whites as "Old Mary," and also at intervals on the calendars.
Jacob L. Roberts spoke quite as good English as the averige white man of the country and was employed to secure Tcoʼkŭt Nak's calendar (pl. II, b) and for the final revision of the linguistic material.

Carl Smart, of Sacaton, and Thomas Allison, of Blackwater, were occasionally engaged as temporary interpreters. In addition to these there were half a dozen others who were employed for from one to three days each at the lower villages.

[2] Sylvester Mowry, lieutenant in the Third Artillery, in an address before the American Geographical Society, in New York, February 3, 1859 (Arizona and Sonora, 3d ed., 30), said: "Much as we pride ourselves upon our superior government, no measures [the United States Government have [sic] since, under urgent pressure of the writer, made some small appropriations for the Pima Indians] have been taken to continue our friendly relations with the Pimos; and to our shame be it said, it is only to the forbearance of these Indians that we owe the safety of the life of a single American citizen in central or western Arizona, or the carriage of the mails overland to the Pacific."

[1]

[2]