8
THE CHEKA WA AMERICAN
When asked how long these Indians had lived in that country Com
missioner Sells stated in effect that he did not know, and probably no
man living does know. Certainly they have lived there more than 200
years. The first authentic record of them appears in the diary of Father
Eusebio Kino, who made tours through their country in 1698-1699.
He found them to be a docile, industrious, peaceful tribe of Indians,
which manly attributes they retain to this day. It is a boast of the Pa-
pago that he has never injured a white man.
The Papagoes have battled with adverse conditions and won. They
forced a repelling desert to yield a subsistence, and they have thrived.
One cannot help but feel imbued with deep respect for a people who can
progress under conditions as they are found in the Papago country.
Mile after mile of virgin desert can be traversed without a sign of an
animal.
After traveling 25 or 30 miles through “ barren stillness” one runs into
a Papago village of say 30 or 40 houses, built reasonably close together
on two or three acres of ground. In close proximity will be found a
small cultivated patch, usually devoted to the growing of squashes and
other vegetables during the summer, the same ground being planted in
grain, generally wheat or oats, during the winter.
The annual rainfall is not sufficient to mature grain, but the Indians
have evolved an ingenius method of augmenting the moisture. They
throw out dykes or wings frequently many miles long. These dykes
converge, thus gathering the rainfall from an immencearea into a pocket
of a few acres only. The waters thus gathered are sometimes sufficient
to mature a small crop, which is gathered most carefully and hoarded.
Dry years frequently occur, during which grain is not matured. The
Indian then fall back on their stored grain supply and the “ native
products” of the desert. They save seed for three or four years and
always have a small supply. These people have even developed a hardy
variety of bean which matures from one irrigation only. The depart
ment of agriculture has mentioned this bean (the tepary) in a number
of its bulletins as being especially adapted to desert countries.
The Indians seem to thrive on the natural products of the desert and
even use the fruit of the cactus in various ways for making jams, syrups
and potables. Their houses are usually furnished with such articles as
can be manufactured on the spot. Fibers from desert plants are woven
into mats and baskets and each woman is the potter for her own house
hold. The men hew bowls and spoons out of wood and make their
ropes and harness out of rawhide. Most of them never saw a nail.
Adjacent to each village will also be found “ a stock corral,” general
ly fenced with mesquite brush, and a “ charco,” or a pond, into which
rainfall is diverted and stored for domestic and stock watering purposes.