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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 22, 1905)
THE SUNDAY OKEGONIAtf, PORTIANB, JANUARY 22, IMfi. PHOTO-HISTORIAN OF A VANISHING RACE E. S. Curtis, of Seattle, Has Won a World-Wide Rep utation as a' Photographer of Indian Life. HHHhhHk ' "SfSjri i BSl sBBBBB. BBBBBBB- 'KL'f$BBBBBB& HHuRk 'mi-f KfBjmaSt SSlaiiRBIH ' NAVAJO CHIEF. ES. CURTIS, "the photo - historian of a vanishing race," as he has come to be known, has won dis tinction in a new and unusual field. He Is- cqgagod in collecting: and preserving for present use and future ages original materials for the history of a race of men whose fate it has been to be outcasts in their native land; a race which, un'der the withering touch of civilization, is destined to vanish from the face of the earth. It is said that history has never recorded a more touching and melancholy story than that of the Indians of North America, but their history aa told by the Curtis pic tures lacks that pitiful strain, and shows them as they actually are. Goes Where the Indian Lives. The best possible material for Indian history is found in Mr. Curtis pictures of their men, women and children; of their forest and desert homes and sur roundings; of their camps, fetes and fes tivals; their implements of the chase and of war; and of all that goes to make up the everyday life of such a people. To gather such pictures he goes where the Indian lives. He makes his studies in the forest and on the plains; in the wilds of Alaska and along the shores of Puget Sound; In the hopilelds and on the reser vationwhether In the Dakotas, Montana or in the burning sands of the far south deserts. "Wherever Indians are to bp found in their natural habitat he seeks them out and pictures their lives from day to day. Never before has such an Intelligent and systematic attempt been made to gather in so complete a form the rich and varied materials scattered all over the country and so necessary for a pictorial history of the Indian race. The Government is doing its best to edu cate the Indian and give him an equal chance' with the white man. One gener ation of education docs not fit an Indian to cope with a race which has generation after generation of learning behind it, but it does totally unfit him to live the life of the savage, and it is particularly this latter phase of Indian life which makes the Curtis pictures rare and deep ly interesting from an ethnological stand point. Savagery is a phase of Indian llfo which it might be aald is disappearing with the present generation. The two lectures which Mr. Curtis gave here Thursday and Friday nights, under the auspices of the Mazamas, were illus trated by some wonderful stereoptlcon views. Including many of the religious rites and tribal dances of the Moqull. Zunll, Navajos and White Mountain and Jlcarllla Apaches. These are all Pueblo Indians, and their history, as told by these pictures, seems to step out of the middle ages. Their wild and picturesque homes on the rocky mesas of the south ern desert give them an air of the ro mantic which is followed up in their pe culiar dress and handicraft. Mr. Gjirtls Tells of His Pictures. its' explained, "is to show in each group or tribe the type, male and female, child and adult: home structure, handicraft, dress, ceremonies, games, lite, manners and environment, so that future genera tions can sco what this fast-disappearing people were like." I asked him if he had an' difficulty in gaining the confidence of the various tribes which he visited, and how he man. 9Eftd to overcome their natural dislike aad superstition regarding a camera. "Money "Will overcome most any super stition." be laughingly replied; "and with CKliaren. can ay win ao ine worK so long as their parents are out of sight. In many cases I am permitted to photo graph the adults of a family, but the children are bundled off into a dark corner and kept religiously out of my sight. "1 had one funny experience with the Jlcarijla Apaches." be continued. "They are wild, fierce, untamed lot, and their ceremonies are the most halr-ralslng of any which I have visited. For color, noise and thrills, the Jlcarllla feast da"nce Is superior to anything in the Indian ceremony line, and it was to witness this that I wont to great trouble and expense to visit their reservation In an out-of-the-world part of New Mexico. I arrived at the site of the dance two days ahead of the ceremony, and found a number of these Apaches already in : camp. As I approached with my outfit an old buck stuck. his head outside his tepee and gave the most peculiar howling noise I ever heard emit from a human throat. It sounded like a discordant note of a hoarse coyote, and in another sec ond the fellow In the next tent repeated the music. This was taken up from tent to tent until every crazy Indian there was howling like a wild beast. I asked my interpreter what it meant, and he said: "Why they don't, want you here." Makes Peace With Indians. This commotion which I had raised was equal to a hornet's nest, so I immediately decided to seek out the chief and make my peace with him. I paid him a visit and tried to make him think I was of much importance and closely In touch with things at Washington and that he wouldn't dare mako me any trouble, so he called a conference of his headmen, arid they finally decided to let me stay, although one curly old fellow drew out of the consultation and declared he would make me trouble. I had to keep my eye open for him all the while J remained on the reservation, but I managed to get some fine pictures and get away un harmed. I found that up to the time of my visit no photographer who was openly making pictures had been allowed at this ceremony. Held Up by a Governor. "While Acoma Is one of the most pic turesque and beautiful spots I ever saw, it was a most irritating place to attempt to get pictures. On first going to the village the Governor sent his Interpreter to me, saying that I would have to pay ?I for myself and Jl for each of my party and 55 for each camera. If I was going to mako pictures. After talking this over awhile. I asked him to bring the Governor himself, thinking I might impress him with my importance and get a reduction in his demands. The Gov ernor and I had a long, dignified talk with the interpreter, the outcome being that be got the best of every argument. So I paid my money and thought the matter settled, and was naturally sur prised, after this long conversation through an interpreter, to hear him say in perfectly good English; 'Ail right you go ahead and make pictures. "The following morning I made three pictures, when ono of his lieutenants came and told me to stop. I explained that I had paid the Governor for the privilege and was going to make all I wished. Soon he returned, saying the Governor thought I had made enough for the money I had paid, so I must stop. As I had planned to make pictures of that particular village for a week or IB days, the price of 15 per camera every la minutes did not look good to me, so I kept on trying, but all day long it was a continual argument with the Indian police and the Governor's lieutenants. I tried It again the next day, but finally they told me that I not only had to stop but had to leave the village so there was nothing to do but go. I found out afterwards that they were getting reauy tor a sacrca dance which no white person had ever witnessed, so perhaps the next time I go there they will not be so exacting. The Snake Dance of the Moqull. "I secured a set of Alms for the blograph at the last dance, out mind you tills was only the ninth or last day's ceremony. The other eight days are confined to secret ceremonies which are conducted In underground cells and which no white man has witnessed. However, I have hopes of seeing It next time, and perhaps next year I can tell you more about it. In the case of the lcblcnal ceremony of the Navajoes, I had to become s. mem ber of the order, as the old medicine man was certain that I would- go blind If I witnessed it without being a mem ber." I implored Mr. Curtis to tell me some thing about this ceremony, ns I had wit ' ncssed the pictorial reproduction of It. and as he answered questions about pic tures be gave an interesting account of it between times. A Nine-Day Ritual Ceremony. The Yeblchal ceremony Is a nine-day ritual ceremony for the curing of dis eases, the ninth or final day terminating In the public all-night dance. A person ordinarily speaking of the Yeblchal dance refers to the final day and night. It is only the student who would care to ob serve the whole nine days and nignts. When I say 'for the curing of disease, 1 should say for the curing of those who have some long-standing ailment, er an Imaginary one. For acuto illness other and briefer ceremonies are practiced. With the Navajoes all ceremonies are termed 'sings,.' and the medicine men singers. They have one-day sings, two- day sings, in fact, any number of days up to the great, nine-day ceremony of the Yeblchal and the Hoskon. or, as. termed by Mathews, the Night Chant and the Mountain Chant. "The Yeblchal ceremony which I wit nessed was held near the mouth of Can yon de Chelly last Autumn. Both the Yeblchal and the Hoskon dance arc not held until after frost, which means that they are Fall or Winter ceremonies. I also saw a number of other Yeblchal ceremonies, one In Canyon de Chelly, which was. from Its strange situation, a very striking affair. "The ritual ceremony for the whole nine days Is held in what Is called the medicine hogan. This hogan is usually built for a certain sing, and never used a second -time. This is not necessarily so, as in Canyon de Chelly there is a hogan which has been used many times; In fact. It is almost crumbling with age. "I arrived at the mouth of the canyon the day before the beginning of this cere mony. The hogan was, completed. It had been built by the patient and his friends, watched over and assisted by tbo singer. On the day of my arrival I made my ar rangements with the singer. The under standing was that I was. to have access to the hogan at all times and sec all ceremonies, and that I was to be given all necessary Information, that what I might write would be free from error. According to their superstition, no one can see the hogan or secret ceremonies who Is not a member of the Yeblchal order. I agreed to be Initiated, and the fact of my being a Yebicnai proved of great assist ance to me later at other ceremonies. Wherever I went, as soon as it was known that I was a Yeblchal, the Navajo would simply nod his head and say 'bucno.' The Ceremony Begins. "The first day's ceremony is brief, a small number of assisting singers and a few spectators. The day Is spent in prep aration of medicine paraphernalia, and shortly after dark participants and spec tators begin to gather at the hogan. The singers, or what one might term the cho rus," are grouped In the back part of the hogan, the spectators crowded In closely about Its walls. In the center is a small fire, which warms and Illuminates the room. The men who are to impersonate the deities in this first night's ceremonies remove their clothing, paint their bodies. wrap a blanket about them, take their masks and go out Into the darkness. They are scarcely out of the -hogan be fore the patient comes In, sits on a blan ket at the back of the hogan, removing his clothing. "The masked deities come In one at a time, performing their part of the cere mony over the patient. One of the first things the spectator will notice is that each movement is a movement by fours. Practically all parts of the ritual cere mony repeats Itself four times, and all movements are from the four cardinal points, beginning at the east, making a circle by the south, then at the south, west, north. The cardinal colors are east, white; south, blue: west, yellow; north. black. Each dety as he performs over tbo patient utters a big whoop, something like the call of the coyote and termed by them the Yeblchal call. The deity will press his hands on the patient's chest, give his hoot, repeating it four times, then his risht shodldcr, again repeating his Yebl- BBf BBBB' iBfBBBBBBBBBsBIBBEilBBBSBiR BiBBBBrBBIBBBBBBtiM jMiBBBBBS BBBBSBBBBBB BBBtlsBBBB gSsBKtKBK A TYPIGAXt ZTTX A MAfTCKn DUSTY IN THE YEBICHAX CEREMONY. A HQFI BEIXE. chai call the four times, next his back, and then his left shoulder. "Shortly after midnight the ceremonies close and all depart to their camps. No. I should not say all; the chief singer and the patient sleep In the hogan such por tions of time as are given to sleep, and I also would occasionally get a chance for a nap, although usually, in my case, with one eye open for fear something would be going qn and I would jniss it. The Sweating Ceremony. "At sunrise the second day begins the ceremonial sweat. This sweating Is con tinued every morning for four davs. and the regular order of cardinal points is observed, east, south, west, north. It seems to be optionil with the singer whether this sweating is in a regularly- constructed lodge or hogan, or In blan kets. In this Instance the blanket method was used. A shallow hole or trench, the length of the body, was dug. In this was piled and spread an amount of hot coals. Tho coals were covered a few Inches In depth by spruce boughs. The boughs were sprinkled with water, after which the patent disrobed and stretched himself on this steaming bed of boughs. He was now covered with a heavy blanket and the edges snugly packed Jn. While he Is taking his place in the sweat, the singers begin their chanting, which continues for 15 or 20 minutes: The singer then lifts the corner of the blanket and gives the patient a drink of a prepared medi cine from one of the ceremonial baskets, after which the patient is again tucked in and the singing goes on. In fact,- the singing has scarcely ceased. I remarked to Charley I thought the patient was nigging a little, as he would occasionally raise tho blanket a trifle, apparently to get a breath of cool air. Charley looked at me and remarked. 'If you were under there -you would nig a good deal: while It Is. In fact, only a little over half an hour, it seems a lifetime." I asked him If he knew from experience. He assured roe that he did. I had befqre suspicioned that he had been the Yeblchal patient In times past, but this was the first time 1 had succeeded In getting him. to say anything which wftuld convince me. He is, without doubt, the only white man who has been a patient in this ceremony, and. as far as I am concerned, he Is perfectly welcome to the distinction "At last the blanket is lifted, tho deities perform over the patient, rub bing his body with medicine, then re tire to the hogan. the patient clothing himself and also going inside. "The whole ceremony has taken per haps three hours. "During: this, the second day. some time is given to the preparation of medicine paraphernalia, and the young ' men spend considerable time preparing and smoothing the ground in front of the hogan where the final night's dance fs to be given. Shortly after dark the I regular night cedemony begins. To ! night Is the night of the cigarette and I stick sacrifices to the gods. These sac I rlflces have been prepared during the t day. and are in one of the medicine Concluded on Fa