The Cliff Ruins of Canyon de Chelly, Arizona Part 11

The general similarity between the kivas of De Ch.e.l.ly and those of the Mesa Verde region will be apparent from the above description. It should be added that in the section which accompanies it the roof of the tunnel appears to be supported by a series of small cross sticks, although no information on this point is afforded by the test. The examples which occur in De Ch.e.l.ly are apparently much ruder and more primitive than those of the Mancos, and only one of them approaches the latter in finish and elaboration.

In another place[26] Nordenskiold mentions an example in which two small sticks were incorporated in the masonry of the upper part of the tunnel in a diagonal position. From this he rejects Holmes' explanation that the pa.s.sageway was used as an entrance to the kiva, nor does he find the chimney hypothesis satisfactory. He states, further, that the use of this feature as a ventilator seems highly improbable. In one place he found the curtain or screen constructed not of masonry, but--

... of thick stakes, driven into the ground close to each other, and fastened together at the top with osiers. On the side nearest to the hearth this wooden screen was covered with a thick layer of mortar, probably to protect the timber from the heat.[27]

[Footnote 26: Loc. cit., p. 32.]

[Footnote 27: Loc. cit., p. 70.]

As stated elsewhere, the first hypothesis formed in the field as to the purpose of these chimney-like structures was that they were abortive chimneys, but this was found untenable. The next hypothesis, formed also in the field, was that they were ceremonial in origin and use, but why they should connect with the open air is not clear. If we could a.s.sume that they were ventilators, the problem would be solved, but it is a far cry from pueblo architecture to ventilation; a stride, as it were, over many centuries. Ventilation according to this method--the introduction of fresh air on a low level, striking on a screen a little distance from the inlet and being thereby evenly distributed over the whole chamber--is a development in house architecture reached only by our own civilization within the last few decades.

If the shaft and tunnel were in place, however, the screen might follow as a matter of necessity. Entrance to the kivas is always through the roof, a ceremonial requirement quite as rigidly adhered to today among the Pueblos as it was formerly among their ancestors. The same opening which gives access also provides an exit to the smoke from the fire, which is invariably placed in the center of the kiva below it. This fire is a ceremonial rather than a necessary feature, for in the coldest weather the presence of a dozen men in a small chamber, air-tight except for a small opening in the roof, very soon raises the temperature to an uncomfortable degree, and the air becomes so fetid that a white man, not accustomed to it, is nauseated in half an hour or less. Such are the conditions in the modern kivas of Tusayan. In the smaller structures of De Ch.e.l.ly they must have been worse. The fire is, therefore, made very small and always of very dry wood, so as to diminish as far as possible the output of smoke. Frank H. Cushing states that in certain ceremonials which occur in the kivas it is considered very necessary that the fire should burn brightly and that the flame should rise straight from it. If this requirement prevailed in De Ch.e.l.ly, a screen of some sort would surely follow the construction of a shaft and tunnel.

More or less smoke is generally present in the kivas when a fire is burning, notwithstanding the care taken to prevent it. That a similar condition prevailed in the kivas of De Ch.e.l.ly is shown by the smoke-blackened plaster of the interiors. In some cases there was a room over the kivas which must have increased the difficulty very much. There can be little doubt that the chimney-like structures were not chimneys, and no doubt at all that they did provide an efficient means of ventilation, no matter what the intention of the builders may have been.

When we know more of the ceremonials of the Pueblo Indians, and when extensive excavations have developed the various types and varieties of these structures in the ruins, we may be able to determine their object and use.

TRADITIONS

It has often been stated concerning some given ruin or region that the traditions of the present inhabitants of the country do not reach them.

In the case of Canyon de Ch.e.l.ly the same statement might be made, for more than 99 Navaho in 100, when asked what became of the people who built the old houses in De Ch.e.l.ly, will state that a great wind arose and swept them all away, which is equivalent to saying that they do not know. There is a tradition in the Navaho tribe, however, now very difficult to get, as it is confined to a few of the old priests. It recites the occupancy of the canyon before the Navaho obtained possession of it, but, curiously enough, this period is placed after the Spanish invasion. It is even a.s.serted that there were monks in De Ch.e.l.ly, and Mummy Cave, Casa Blanca, and one other ruin have been pointed out as the places where they were stationed. No version of this tradition definite and complete enough for publication could be obtained by the writer, but Dr. Washington Matthews, U.S.A., whose knowledge of Navaho myths and traditions is so great that it can almost be termed exhaustive, has obtained one and doubtless will publish it.

The Hopi or Moki Indians, whose villages are some three days' journey to the west, have also very definite traditions bearing on the occupancy of De Ch.e.l.ly.[28] This tribe, like others, is composed of a number of related clans who reached their present location from various directions and at various times; but, with a few exceptions, each of these clans claims to have lived at one time or another in Canyon de Ch.e.l.ly. How much truth there is in these claims can be determined only when the entire region has been examined and thoroughly studied. In the meantime it will probably be safe to a.s.sume that some, at least, of the ruins in De Ch.e.l.ly are of Hopi origin.

[Footnote 28: A resume of the Hopi traditions was prepared by the writer from material collected by the late A. M. Stephen, and published as chapter iii of "A study of Pueblo architecture,"

op. cit.]

CONCLUSIONS

To understand the ruins so profusely scattered over the ancient pueblo country we must have some knowledge of the conditions under which their inhabitants lived. Were nothing at all known, however, we would be justified in inferring, from the results that have been produced, a similarity of conditions with those prevailing among the pueblo tribes, both formerly and now; and all the evidence so far obtained would support that inference. There is no warrant whatever for the old a.s.sumption that the "cliff dwellers" were a separate race, and the cliff dwellings must be regarded as only a phase of pueblo architecture.

More or less speculation regarding the origin of pueblo culture is the usual and perhaps proper accompaniment of nearly all treatises bearing on that subject. Early writers on the Aztec culture, aided by a vague tradition of that tribe that they came from the north, pushed the point of emigration farther and farther and still farther north, until finally the pueblo country was reached. Pueblo ruins are even now known locally as "Aztec ruins." Logically the inhabited villages should be cla.s.sed as "Aztec colonies," and such cla.s.sification was not unusual when the country came into the possession of the United States some fifty years ago.

As our knowledge of the pueblo culture increased, a gradual separation between the old and the new took place, and we have as an intermediate hypothesis many "Aztec ruins," but no "Aztec colonies." Finally, as a result of still further knowledge, the ruins and the inhabited pueblos are again brought together; several lines of investigation have combined to show the continuity of the old and the present culture, and the connection may be considered well established. But there is still a disposition to regard the cliff ruins as a thing apart. The old idea of a separate race of cliff dwellers now finds little credence, but the cliff ruins are almost universally explained as the results of extraordinary, primitive, or unusual causes.

The intimate relation between the savage and his physical environment has already been alluded to. Nature, or that part of nature which we term physical environment, enters into and becomes part of the life of the savage in a way and to an extent that we can hardly conceive. A change of physical environment does not produce an immediate change in the man or in his arts, but in time such must inevitably result.

Twenty-five years ago the savage of the plains and the savage of the pueblo country were regarded as distinct races, "as different from each other as light is from darkness;" yet the differences which appeared so striking at first have become fewer and fewer as our knowledge of the Indian tribes increased, and those which remain today can almost all be attributed to a difference in physical environment.

Linguistic researches have shown the close connection which exists between the Hopi (Moki) and some of the plains (or so called "wild") Indians. There is no doubt that at the time of the Spanish discovery, some three hundred and fifty years ago, the Hopi were quite as far advanced as the other pueblo tribes, and the conclusion is irresistible that since it may reasonably be inferred that one tribe has made the change from a nomadic to a sedentary life, other tribes also may have done so. We may go even farther than this, and a.s.sume that a nomadic tribe driven into the pueblo country, or drifting into it, would remain as before under the direct influence of its physical environment, although the environment would be a new one. Granting this, and the element of time, and we will have no difficulty with the origin of pueblo architecture.

The complete adaptation of pueblo architecture to the country in which it is found has been commented on. Ordinarily such adaptation would imply two things--origin within the country, and a long period of time for development--but there are several factors that must be taken into consideration. If the architecture did not originate in the country where it is found it would almost certainly bear, traces of former conditions. Such survivals are common in all arts, and instances of it are so common in architecture that no examples need be cited. Only one of these survivals has been found in pueblo architecture, but that one is very instructive; it is the presence of circular chambers in groups of rectangular rooms, which occur in certain regions. These chambers are called estufas or kivas and are the council houses and temples of the people, in which the governmental and religious affairs of the tribe are transacted. It is owing to their religious connection that the form has been preserved to the present day, carrying with it the record of the time when the people lived in round chambers or huts,

In opposition to the hypothesis of local origin it might be stated that there is no evidence of forms intermediate in development. The oldest remains of pueblo architecture known are but little different from recent examples. But it must be borne in mind that pueblo architecture is of a very low order, so low that it hardly comes within a definition of architecture as an art, as opposed to a craft. Except for a few examples, some of which have already been mentioned, it was strictly utilitarian in character; the savage had certain needs to supply, and he supplied them in the easiest and most direct manner and with material immediately at hand. The whole pueblo country is covered with the remains of single rooms and groups of rooms, put up to meet some immediate necessity. Some of these may have been built centuries ago, some are only a few years or a few months old, yet the structures do not differ from one another; nor, on the other hand, does the similarity imply that the builder of the oldest example knew less or more than his descendant today--both utilized the material at hand and each accomplished his purpose in the easiest way. In both cases the result is so rude that no sound inference of sequence can be drawn from the study of individual examples, but in the study of large aggregations of rooms we find some clues.

The aggregation of many single rooms into one great structure was produced by causes which have been discussed. It must not be forgotten that the unit of pueblo construction is the single room, even in the large, many-storied villages. This unit is often quite as rude in modern work as in ancient, and both modern and ancient examples are very close to the result which would be produced by any Indian tribe who came into the country and were left free to work out their own ideas. Starting with this unit the whole system of pueblo architecture is a natural product of the country in which it is found and the conditions of life known to have affected the people by whom it was practiced.

Granting the local origin of pueblo architecture it would appear at first sight that a very long period of time must have elapsed between the erection of the first rude rooms and the building of the many-storied pueblos, yet the evidence now available--that derived from the ruins themselves, doc.u.mentary evidence, and traditions--all suggest that such was not necessarily the case. As a record of events, or rather of a sequence of events, tradition, when unsupported, has practically no value; but as a picture of life and of the conditions under which a people lived it is very instructive and full of suggestions, which, when followed out, often lead to the uncovering of valuable evidence. The traditions of the pueblo tribes record a great number of movements or migrations from place to place, the statements being more or less obscured by mythologic details and accounts of magic or miraculous occurrences. When numbers of such movements are recorded, it is safe to infer that the conditions dictating the occupancy of sites were unstable or even that the tribes were in a state of slow migration. When this inference is supported by other evidence, it becomes much stronger, and when the supporting evidence becomes more abundant, with no discordant elements, the statement may be accepted as proved until disproved.

The evident inferiority of the modern pueblos to some of the old ruins has been urged as an argument against their connection. While degeneration in culture is yet to be proved, degeneration of some particular art under adverse conditions, such as war, continued famine, or pestilence, is not an uncommon incident in history, and it can be shown that under the peculiar conditions which prevailed in the pueblo country such degeneration would naturally take place. One of the peculiarities of pueblo architecture is that its results were obtained always by the employment of the material immediately at hand. In the whole pueblo region no instance is known where the material (other than timber) was transported to any distance; on the contrary, it was usually obtained within a few feet of the site where it was used. Hence, it comes about that difference in character of masonry is often only a difference in material. Starting with a tribe or several tribes of plains Indians, who came into the pueblo country, we should probably see them at first building houses such as they were accustomed to build--round huts of skin or brush, perhaps partly covered with earth, such as were found all over middle and eastern United States. Supposing the tribe to have been not very warlike in character and subsisting princ.i.p.ally by horticulture, these settlements would necessarily be confined to the vicinity of springs and to little valleys where the crops could be grown. The general character of the country is arid in the extreme, and only in favored spots is horticulture possible. In a very short time these people would be forced to the use of stone for buildings, for the whole country is covered with tabular sandstone, often broken up into blocks and flakes ready for immediate use without any preparation whatever. Timber and brush could be procured only with difficulty, and often had to be carried great distances.

It has been suggested that the rectangular form of rooms might have been developed from the circular form by the crowding together upon restricted sites of many circular chambers; but such a supposition seems unnecessary. A structure of masonry designed to be roofed would naturally be rectangular; in fact, the placing of a flat roof upon a circular chamber was a problem whose solution was beyond the ability of these people, as has already been shown. Along with this advance, or perhaps preceding it, the social organization of the tribe, or its division into clans and phratries, would manifest itself, and those who "belong together" would build together. This requirement was a very common one and was closely adhered to even a few years ago.

Although degeneration in arts is common enough, a peculiar condition prevailed in the pueblo region. So far as the architecture was concerned war and a hostile human environment produced not degeneration but development. This came about partly by reason of the peculiarities of the country, and partly through the methods of war. The term war is rather a misnomer in this connection, as it does not express the idea.

The result was not brought about by armed bodies of men animated by hostile intentions or bent on extermination, although forays of this kind are too common in later pueblo history, but rather by predatory bands, bent on robbery and not indisposed to incidental killing. The pueblos, with their fixed habitations and their stores of food, were the natural prey of such bands, and they suffered, just as did, at a later period, the Mexican settlements on the Rio Grande, with their immense, flocks of sheep. It was constant annoyance and danger, rather than war and pitched battles.

The pueblo country is exceptionally rich in building material suited to the knowledge and capacity of the pueblo builders. Had suitable material been less abundant, military knowledge would have developed and defensive structures would have been erected; but as such material could be obtained everywhere, and there was no lack of sites, almost if not quite equal to those occupied at any given time, the easiest and most natural thing to do was to move. Owing to the nature of the hostile pressure, such movements were generally gradual, not en ma.s.se; although there is no doubt that movements of the latter kind have sometimes taken place.

These conclusions are not based on a study of the ruins in Canyon de Ch.e.l.ly alone, which ill.u.s.trate only one phase of the subject, but of all the pueblo remains, or rather of the remains so far as they are now known. They imply a rather spa.r.s.ely settled country, occupied by a comparatively small number of tribes and subtribes, moving from place to place under the influence of various motives, some of which we know, others we can only surmise. It was a slow but practically constant migratory movement with no definite end or direction in view. The course of this movement in a geographical way does not as yet reveal a preponderance in any one direction; tribes and subtribes moved from east to west and from west to east, from north to south and from south to north, and many were irregular in their course, but the movements, so far as they can now be discerned, were all within a circ.u.mscribed area.

There is no evidence of any movement from without into the pueblo group, unless the close relation of the Hopi (Moki) language to the other Shoshonean dialects be such evidence, and none of a movement from within this area out of it, although such movements must have taken place, at least in the early history of the region. It must be borne in mind in this discussion that while we can a.s.sign approximate boundaries to the ancient pueblo region on the north, east, and west, no limit can as yet be fixed on the south. The arid country southward of Gila river and northward of the Mexican boundary would be a great obstacle to a movement either north or south, but little as we know about that region we do know that it was not an insurmountable obstacle. The Casas Grandes of Janos, in Chihuahua, closely resemble the type of ruins on the Gila river, in Arizona, of which the best example we now have is the well-known Casa Grande ruin. We know that there are cliff ruins in the Sierra Madre, but beyond this we know little. Concerning the immense region which stretches from Gila river to the valley of Mexico, over 1300 miles in length, we know practically nothing.

In that portion of the pueblo region lying within the United States migratory movements have, as a rule, been confined to very small areas, each linguistic family moving within its own circ.u.mscribed region. Some instances of movement away from the home region have taken place even in historic times, as, for example, the migration of a considerable band of Tewas from the Rio Grande to Tusayan, where they now are, and moreover, this movement probably occurred en ma.s.se and over a considerable distance; but there is little doubt that the usual procedure was different.

Canyon de Ch.e.l.ly was occupied because it was the best place in that vicinity for the practice of horticulture. The cliff ruins there grew out of the natural conditions, as they have in other places. It is not meant that a type of house structure developed here and was transferred subsequently to other places. When the geological and topographical environment favored their construction, cliff outlooks were built; from a different geological structure in certain regions cavate lodges resulted; in other places there were "watch towers;" in still others single rooms were built, either lone or in cl.u.s.ters, and these results obtained quite as often if not oftener within the historic period as in prehistoric times.

Notwithstanding the possible division of the De Ch.e.l.ly ruins into four well defined types, there is no warrant for the a.s.sumption of a large population. The types are interrelated and to a large extent were inhabited not contemporaneously but conjointly. There are about 140 ruins in Canyon de Ch.e.l.ly and its branches, but few of them could accommodate more than a very small population. Settlements large enough to furnish homes for 50 or 60 people were rare. As not all of the sites were occupied at one time, the maximum population of the canyon could hardly have exceeded 400; it is more likely to have been 300.

The character of the site occupied is one of the most important elements to be studied in the examination of ruins in the pueblo country. In De Ch.e.l.ly whatever defensive value the settlements had was due to the character of the sites selected. It is believed, however, that other considerations dictated the selection of the sites, and that the defensive motive, if present at all, exercised very little influence in this region. The sites here are always selected with a view to an outlook over some adjacent area of cultivable land, and the structures erected on them were industrial or horticultural, rather than military or defensive.

The masonry of the ruins and the constructive expedients employed by the builders are an insurmountable obstacle in the way of the hypothesis that the cliff ruins represent a primitive or intermediate stage in the growth of pueblo architecture. The builders were well acquainted with the principles and methods of construction employed in the best work found in other regions; the inferiority of their work is due to special conditions and to the locality. The presence of a number of extraneous features, both in methods and principles employed, is further evidence in the same line. These features are certainly foreign to this region, some of them suggest even Spanish or Mexican origin, which implies comparatively recent occupancy.

The openings--doorways and windows--found in the ruins are of the regular pueblo types. They are arranged as convenience dictated, without any reference to the defensive motive, which, if it existed at all, exercised less influence here than it did in the modern pueblos. There is no evidence of the use of very modern features, such as the paneled wooden doors found in the pueblos; nor, on the other hand, are there any very primitive expedients or methods--none which can not be found today in the modern villages.

The roof, floors, and timber work are also essentially the same as the examples found in the modern pueblos. The notable scarcity of roofing timbers in the ruins can probably be explained by the hypothesis of successive occupancies and subsequent or repeated use of material difficult to obtain. So far as regards the use of timber as an element of masonry construction the results obtained in De Ch.e.l.ly are rude and primitive as compared with the work found in other regions.

The immense number of storage cists found in De Ch.e.l.ly are a natural outgrowth of the conditions there and support the hypothesis that the cliff outlooks were merely farming shelters. The small size of many of the settlements made the construction of storage cists a necessity. The storage of water was very seldom attempted. A large proportion of the cists found in De Ch.e.l.ly were burial places and of Navaho origin. As a rule they are far more difficult of access than the ruins.

There is no evidence of the influence of the defensive motive. Defensive works on the approaches to sites are never found, nor can such influence be detected in the arrangement of openings, in the character of masonry, or in the ground plan. If the cliff ruins were defensive structures, an influence strong enough to bring about the occupancy of such inconvenient and unsuitable sites would certainly be strong enough also to bring about some slight modifications in the architecture, such as would render more suitable sites available. If we a.s.sume that the cliff ruins were farming outlooks, occupied only during the farming season, and then only for a few days or weeks at a time, the character of the sites occupied by them, seems natural enough, for the same sites are used by the Navaho today in connection with farming operations.

The distribution of kivas in the ruins of De Ch.e.l.ly affords another indication that the occupancy of that region was quiet and little disturbed, and that the ruins were in no sense defensive structures.

Kivas are found only in permanent settlements, and the presence of two or three of them in a small settlement comprising a total of five or six rooms implies, first, that the little village was the home of two or more families, and, second, that there was comparative if not entire immunity from hostile incursions. If the conditions were otherwise, these small settlements would have combined into larger ones, as was done in other regions. Probably these small settlements with several kivas mark a late period in the use of outlying sites. The position of the kivas in some of the settlements on defensive sites, and their arrangement across the front of the cove, suggest that such sites were first used for outlooks, and that their occupancy by regular villages came at a later period.

All of the now available traditions of the Navaho and of the Hopi Indians support the conclusions reached from a study of the intrinsic evidence of the ruins, that they represent a comparatively late period in the history of pueblo architecture. It appears that some at least of the ruins are of Hopi origin. It is certain that the ruins were not occupied at one time, nor by one tribe or band.

As criteria in development or in time the cliff ruins are valueless, except in a certain restricted way. They represent simply a phase of pueblo life, due more to the geological character of the region occupied than to extraordinary conditions, and they pertain partly to the old villages, partly to the more modern. Apparently they reached their greatest (not their highest) development in the period immediately preceding the last well-defined stage in the growth of pueblo architecture, a stage in which most of the pueblos were at the time of their discovery by the Spaniards, and in which some of them are now.

Reliance for defense was had on the site occupied, and outlying settlements for horticultural purposes were very numerous, as they must necessarily be also in the last stage--the aggregation of many related villages into one great cl.u.s.ter.

The cliff outlooks in Canyon de Ch.e.l.ly and in other regions, the cavate lodges of New Mexico and Arizona, the "watch towers" of the San Juan and of the Zuni country, the summer villages attached to many of the pueblos, the single-room remains found everywhere, even the brush shelters or "kisis" of Tusayan, are all functionally a.n.a.logous, and all are the outgrowth of certain industrial requirements, which were essentially the same throughout the pueblo country, but whose product was modified by geological and topographical conditions. In the cliff ruins of De Ch.e.l.ly we have an interesting and most instructive example of the influence of a peculiar and sometimes adverse environment on a primitive people, who entered the region with preconceived and, as it were, fully developed ideas of house construction, and who left it before those ideas were brought fully in accord with the environment, but not before they were influenced by it.