Unknown Mexico Part 28

Leaving the princ.i.p.ales to prepare themselves further for the dance, my friend and I early next morning went to see a sacred cave where the Huichols go to worship. It was situated in the same hill, outside of the country of that tribe. There were a great many caves and cavities between the stones over which we made our way, jumping from one to another. Near the lower edge of this acc.u.mulation of stones I noticed, down in the dark, deep recesses, ceremonial arrows which the pious pilgrims from beyond the eastern border of the Cora land had left. Soon after pa.s.sing this point We came to a cave, the approach of which led downward and was rather narrow. With the aid of a pole or a rope it can easily be entered. I found myself at one of the ancient places of worship of the Huichol Indians, the cave of their G.o.ddess of the Western Clouds. It was not large, but the many singular ceremonial objects, of all shapes and colours, acc.u.mulated within it, made a strange impression upon me. There were great numbers of ceremonial arrows, many with diminutive deer-snares attached, to pray for luck in hunting; as well as votive bowls, G.o.ds'

eyes, and many other articles by which prayers are expressed. In one corner was a heap of deer-heads, brought for the same purpose. As my companion entered, a rat disappeared in the twilight of the cave.

I wanted to take some samples of the articles, but he begged me not to do it, as the poor fellows who had sacrificed the things might be cheated out of the benefits they had expected from them. He had, however, no objection to nay taking a small rectangular piece of textile fabric, with beautifully colored figures on it. "This is a back shield," he said, "and the Huichols do not do right by those things. They place them in the trails leading out of their country, to prevent the rain from coming to us. Lions and other ferocious animals are often represented on them, and they frighten the rain back."

On our return to the dancing-place I found the man who had been deputed to make the G.o.d's eye lying in a small cave in quite an exhausted condition, having fasted for many days. The ceremonial object had already been made, under incantations. It was very pretty, white and blue, and had a wad of cotton attached to each corner. Its efficacy was, however, lost as far as I was concerned, as I had not been sitting beside the man while he made it, praying for what I wanted. This is a necessary condition if the Morning Star is to be made to understand clearly what the supplicant needs.

On the altar, beside the sacred bowl of the community, had been placed food and many ceremonial objects, not omitting the five ears of seed-corn to be used in raising the corn required for the feasts. In the ground immediately in front of the altar were four bunches of the beautiful tail-feathers of the bluejay.

Opposite to this, on the west side of the place, was another altar, a smaller one, on which had been put some boiled pinole in potsherds, with tortillas and a basket of cherries. This was for the dead, who if dissatisfied might disturb the feast. Afterward the pinole is thrown on the ground, while the people eat the rest of the food.

The fasting shaman came forth on our arrival and took his position opposite the main altar, talking to the G.o.ds for half an hour. The newly made G.o.d's eye had been stuck into the ground in front of him. On his left side stood the little girl, and behind her the old woman, her guardian, and a man, who was smoking tobacco. Two young men, one at the right, the other at the left, held in their hands sticks with which they woke up people who fell asleep during the night while the dance was going on.

The shaman prayed to the Morning Star, presented to him the ears of corn that were to be used as seed, and asked him to make them useful for planting. The G.o.ds know best how to fructify the grains, since all the corn belongs to them. "And as for this man," he added, speaking of me, "you all knew him before he started from his own country. To us he seems to be good, but you alone know his heart. You give him the G.o.d's eye he asked for."

A little after dark the singer for the occasion began to play a prelude on the musical bow, which the Coras always glue to the gourd, uniting the two parts to form one instrument. The gourd was placed over a small excavation in the ground to increase its resonance. The singer invoked the Morning Star to come with his brothers, the other stars, to bring with them their pipes and plumes, and arrive dancing with the rain-clouds that emanate from their pipes as they smoke. The Morning Star was also asked to invite the seven princ.i.p.al Taquats to come with their plumes and pipes.

The Coras-dance like the Tepehuanes and the Aztecs, but with quicker steps, and every time they pa.s.s the altar the dancers turn twice sharply toward it. At regular intervals the old woman and the little girl danced, the former smoking a pipe. The little girl had parrot feathers tied to her forehead and a bunch of plumes from the bluejay stood up from the back of her head. In the middle of the night she danced five circuits, carrying a good-sized drinking-gourd containing water from a near-by brook, which originates in the sacred lagoon.

The shaman sang well, but the dancing lacked animation, and but few took part in it. When the little girl began to dance with her grandmother, I seated myself on a small ledge not far from the musician. Immediately the shaman stopped playing and the dancing ceased. In an almost harsh voice, and greatly excited, he called to me, "Come and sit here, sir!" He was evidently very anxious to get me away from the ledge, and offered me a much better seat on one of the stones placed for the princ.i.p.al men. I had inadvertently sat on a Taquat! This sacred rock of the dancing-place had a natural hollow, which the Indians think is his votive bowl, and into which they put pinole and other food. "Never," my friend told me next day, "had anyone sat there before."

Later in the evening, when there was a pause in the performance, I noticed that all the men, with the singing shaman, gathered in a corner of the dancing-place, seating themselves on the ground. They were discussing what they should do in regard to the skulls I had asked for. One of the princ.i.p.al men told them that a dream last night had advised him not to deny the "Senor" anything he asked for, as he had to have a "head" and would not go without one. "You are daft, and he comes here knowing a good deal," the dream had said.

They all became alarmed, especially the man who had steadily opposed their complying with my request, and they agreed that it was better to give the white man what he wanted. The gobernador even raised the question whether it would not be best to let me have the skulls early next morning, together with the other things I was to get; or, if not then, at what other time? My shaman friend diplomatically proposed that I should set the time for this.

Next morning I got the G.o.d's eye as well as a splendid specimen of a musical bow with the gourd attached, the playing-sticks, etc., all of which were taken out of a cave near the dancing-place. There was another cave near by, into which the princ.i.p.al men are accustomed to go to ask permission from the sun and moon and all the other Taquats to make their feasts.

The morning saw the feast concluded in about the usual way. Tobacco was smoked over the seed-corn on the altar, and sacred water was sprinkled from a red orchid over everything on the altar, including the sacred bowl and the flowers on top of it, as well as over the heads of all the people present, to insure health and luck. This is done on behalf of the Morning Star, because he throws blessed water Over the whole earth, and on the corn and the fruit the Coras eat. The flowers are afterward taken home, even by the children, and put in cracks in the house walls, where they remain until removed by the hand of time.

The people of Santa Teresa and San Francisco, at certain rain-making feasts, fashion a large locust (_chicharra_) out of a paste made of ground corn and beans, and place it on the altar. In the morning, after the dancing of the mitote, it is divided among the partic.i.p.ants of the feast, each eating his share. This is considered more efficient even than the dancing itself.

It is evident that the religious customs of the canon of Jesus Maria are on the wane, mainly because the singing shamans are dying out, though curing shamans will remain for centuries yet. As the Indians now have to perform their dances secretly, the growing generation has less inclination and little opportunity to learn them, and the tribe's ritual and comprehensive songs will gradually become lost.

My shaman friend in San Francisco complained to me that the other shamans did not know the words of the songs well enough. Tayop (Father Sun) and the other G.o.ds do not understand them, he said, and therefore these shamans cannot accomplish anything with "los senores." It was like sending a badly written letter: "the gentlemen" pa.s.s it from one to another, none of them being able to make out its meaning.

In the mean time my efforts to obtain anthropological specimens were more laborious than successful, because it was very difficult to get anyone to show me where they could be found. To make things worse, suddenly another man dreamed that I had enough "heads," and so I was not permitted to search for them any more. But I did not intend to content myself with the few I had secured. I had made arrangements with a Cora some time before to show me some skulls he knew of, and after much procrastination on his part I at last got him to accompany me.

We rode for fifteen miles in the direction of Santa Teresa. The country was rough and but spa.r.s.ely inhabited. In fact, I pa.s.sed three deserted ranches, and near one of them I killed a Gila monster that was just making its burrow. There lay an air of antiquity over the whole landscape. About half a league before reaching the caves we sought, I came upon quite an extensive fortification; I also noticed a number of trincheras in one arroyo; and above it on a mesa, running along the edge, we found a wall built of loose stones. The mesa, 300 by 200 feet in extent, was a natural fortress difficult of access, except at one point where a little cordon, like an isthmus, led to it. Here, however, I found no vestige of ancient inhabitants.

There were two shallow caves close to each other in the remote valley into which the guide had led me. In the larger one, which was eight feet deep and twelve feet broad, nine skulls were found. In the other were only a few bones, and I noticed indications of part.i.tions, in the shape of upright stones, between the skeletons. The bodies must have been partly buried, with the heads protruding, in s.p.a.ces a foot square.

It was nearing dusk and I had to get back to my camp that evening. On the road my mule gave out, and for the last part of the way I had to walk. I refreshed myself with some zapotes, which were just in season. This native fruit of Mexico has the flavour of the pear and the strawberry, and is delicious when picked fresh from the tree; but as soon as it falls to the ground it is infested with insects.

Contrary to expectation, when I was ready to leave the village, I found it exceedingly difficult to get men. As the Coras here do not understand the mule business, I had to resort to the Mexicans in the valley, who, however, acting under instructions from the padre, would have nothing to do with me. They even shunned those who were seen in my company. One man who used to carry on some trading with the Huichols was more daring than the rest. He declared that he would serve the devil himself if he got paid for it, and tried to make up a party for me, but failed. He was ruining his reputation for my sake, he told me; even his compadre (his child's G.o.dfather), on account of his a.s.sociation with me, ran away when he saw him coming. The situation finally became so exasperating that I was compelled to write to the Bishop in Tepic, and lay the case before him. I stated that the padre, without having seen me, had placed me in a bad light before the people, and had then left the country, making it impossible for me to convince him of his error of judgment; that if it were not for the strong recommendations I had from the Government and the Commanding General of the Territory, it would be impossible for me to stay here, except at great personal risk.

To await an answer, however, would have involved too great a loss of time. Luckily I found three dare-devil fellows, but recently come into the valley for a living, who were willing to go with me. These, together with the man already mentioned and one Cora Indian, enabled me to make a start. Thus I parted from pretty San Francisco, and the nice Indians there, who had believed in me in spite of the wickedness the Mexicans had attributed to me. The Coras are the only primitive race I have met who seem to have acquired the good qualities of the white man and none of his bad ones.

On an oppressively hot June morning, when I finally got away, the alcalde rode along with me for a couple of miles. We soon began to ascend the slope of the mountains that form the western barrier of the Huichol country, which, among the Mexicans, is reputed to be accessible only at four points. Next morning, while packing the mules, the father of one of my Mexicans ran up to us with a message that seemed quite alarming. Immediately after I left San Francisco yesterday, the Mexican authority at Jesus Maria had come over to tell me that the Huichols were on the warpath and determined not to allow me to enter their pueblos. The messenger impressed upon my men the necessity of turning back and implored them not to run any risk by accompanying me. The chief packer came hastily to me with this news, which I at once declared to be false. But the men, nevertheless, stopped packing, and proposed to go back. They declared that the Huichols were bad, that they were a.s.sa.s.sins, that there were many of them, and that they would kill us all.

Now, what was I to do? To turn back from the tribe the study of which had been from the outset my princ.i.p.al aim was not to be thought of; even to delay the trip would be impossible, as the wet season was fast approaching, in which one cannot travel for months. I tried to reason with them and to ease their minds by pointing out the great experience I had had with Indians in general. I also appealed to their manly pride and courage. "Have we not five rifles?" I said. "Cannot each one of you fight fifty Indians?" Still they wavered, and it looked as if they were going to desert me, when the cook courageously exclaimed: _"Vamos, vamos!"_ ("Let us go on!") They again began to pack, and I managed to keep my troupe together.

The real danger for me lay in the evil rumours the Mexicans had spread, and in. the fact that the whites were afraid of me. The Indians do not follow the "neighbours" in their reasoning; they only think that a white man of whom even the Mexicans are afraid must certainly be terrible. The reason why I had chosen this route was that a friend of mine in far-away Guadalajara had given me a letter of recommendation to an acquaintance of his, a half-caste, who acted as escribano (secretary) to the pueblo of San Andres, or, to give its name in full, San Andres Coamiata. I had been told that this man was temporarily absent, in which case I should be at the mercy of the strange Indians.

The immediate prospect looked dark enough to make me consider the advisability of the long detour to the town of Mezquitic, to get a.s.sistance from the government authorities there and to enter the Huichol country from the east by way of Santa Catarina. Against this plan, however, my men urged that they could not be back in their country before the wet season set in, to attend to their fields. Finally, I decided to risk going to San Andres. If Don Zeferino was not there, I would come back and then try Mezquitic. Two days later, after a laborious ascent, I sent my chief packer ahead to San Andres, which was still about eight miles off. What a mountainous country all around us! The Jesuit father Ortega was right when he said of the Sierra del Nayarit: "It is so wild and frightful to behold that its ruggedness, even more than the arrows of its warlike inhabitants, took away the courage of the conquerors, because not only did the ridges and valleys appear inaccessible, but the extended range of towering mountain peaks confused even the eye."

My messenger returned after two days, saying that Don Zeferino was at home and would be at my disposal. In the meantime it had begun to rain; my men were anxious to return home to the valley, and I started for San Andres.

END OF VOL. I.

NOTES

[1] I have used once or twice the expression _gentile_ Indians, referring to these Tarahumares.

[2] Several years after my expedition pa.s.sed through those regions the Apaches on more than one occasion attacked outlying Mormon ranches and killed several persons.

[3] See page 356.

[4] With which the fruit is brought down.

[5] The Rio Fuerte, the only large water-course in the Tarahumare country, empties into the Pacific Ocean.

[6] As related by an old "Christian" Tarahumare woman in Huerachic, on the upper Rio Fuerte.

[7] A kind of tomato.