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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (June 14, 1890)
WKST SHORK. THE TEST OP FIRE: A ZUNI ORDEAL. IN the curious old "pueblo," the walled city of the Zunl Indium, brother and dieter were talking by ibeiiiM-lven, apart from their youthful playmate ; and their conversation wa very serious, as was evi dent from the tone of voice in which the winter said " I widh you would not U) a warrior, Inhadi." " Why do you make au h a wish a that, Kiawa, my little dit-r?" " Ah, lccauo you niunt duffer, and I may not be with you, brother; and my heart will break to think of you in pain all the long night I " Kiawa' eye were full of team, her soft voice trcm-bh-d piteously, and he clung to her brother' hand, ditting on a Hat ftii at hit feet, a he leaned against the gray wall of the old pueblo terrace. Itelow them, white with itnow, tbo plain of Zuni stretched away to the wentern mountain, where the low, winter nun was dinking out of night. Inhadi ninil.il and clascd the trembling finger of hi little winter with a reassuring touch, as he replied "Von ne not f.-ar for me, Kiawa; I am not afraid. My heart ia not so weak a to faint before the hour of trial rome; ami when it come I shall not have to lar my trial w ithout help. The dpiritd of all my brave forefather my guardian ppirttn will Iw with me and uphold me; they will not let medhrink and shame my warrior blood." Kiawa sighed, but daid nothing. Inhadi added " They day the Yuma and Mojavra will make war uK,n u. in the dpring, you know, and I must win the right to go forth among the Zuni bravea and help to dave our corn land and defend our homed. Not U a warrior! Why, if all the Zunl girla could keep back their brother from the (rial of the brave, bow long would there I any mm to light our battled and drive away our f.e? " " Itut you are o young, Inhadi, and they day the trial cruel," faltered little Kiawa. Inhadi nulled again. "I am t diitren, my didter; and bow much b.nger would you have me wait? My father wad not w 'ld a I am when he took hi degree ; and ainee be I gone away to the land of our Ut other., who never more Murn, hi aon mut take hi place and t worthy of bit line. I U a warrior, Kiawa ; and you may l ure that I ihall Utr my ordeal bravely." Toe youthful Zunl tood up Uraight and proud, foldmg bit ri and blue amp around him a be H.ke, with all the dignity lnvoming u, arrjl)r MI," uch ai be meant to be. Amj( jnJmIi uirrj no amall degree of resolution u face the thought of what awaited him. Among the Indian tribes of the pueblos, of whom the Zuni are perhaps the most important, it is invari ably the custom, when a youth desires admission to the warrior's rank, to put him through an ordeal of great severity, the manner of which is varied in the different pueblos, in order to test his courage and his powers of endurance. The young candidate who is not willing to qualify himself by submitting to this test can not hope to hear his name included in the list of fighting men the nation's roll of honor. Inhadi, whose father had been a valliant warrior and a man of influence among the people, had applied for his military degree, as it may be aptly termed, in the customary form ; and this night he was to undergo bis trial and prove his fitness for the rank he claimed. The sun was setting, and it would soon be dark; the towers of the pueblo cast long shadows across the plains and the sunny terrace was growing cold. "Come, Kiawa," said Inhadi to his sister. "I must Iw making ready for the ordeal ; it is time." Kiawa rose, still clinging to his hand, and together they went along the terrace to a narrow doorway, by which they came into a little, stone-paved court ; and climbing up a ladder, they stood upon a higher ter race with a parapet along its outer edge, like the ram part of a mediaeval castle. Hand in hand they en tered at the low door of a Zuni house their uncle's house, which had been homo to them' and their wid owed mother since the day when their father had departed, as the Zunis say, " to the land of our others." The room into which Inhadi entered, leading his little sister, was paved with blocks of stone ; the ceil ing was of wattled willow poles, upheld by great, smoke blackened rafters, and the walls were plastered with clay and neatly white-washed. There were two "mall, high windows, with plates of transparent sole mte instead of glass; and the smoky chimney had an arched fire place, where a fire of "pinone" wood was burning brightly; while two great, bowl-shaped lamps, filled with grease, added, in equal measure, to the brightum and the smoke. Inhadi' unci,, was a wealthy man among the rcblo NH.pl,., as was evident from the abundance of gay blankets hanging on the walls and spread over the "tone t.nch at one sido of the room, the sheepskin K Uh.u the iU,r, the handsome water jars and other , ;coratcd I'i'7, and the fine clothing worn by all arn.ly. The little Kiawa was dressed in a loose fitting frock of the finest Moqui cotton, with a border i gy tripca, a bend mantle of bright-hued fabric, long string of hell beads twined around her neck arms. Her tloxible shoes of soft buckskin were completely C0Vercd wilJ, Wa(1 embroiJcryi Hef broth(.r "re, under hi fringed and striped scrape, a seamless oat of .Urk-hluo cloth, gathered at the waist with a