American Indians: First Families Of The Southwest - Tapa dura

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Foreword Even in the days when Christopher Columbus was a hoy playing about the streets and docks of Genoa, there were little republics scattered through a portion of the America he was to discover. These peoples of the unknown country built many-storied houses of stone, recognized property rights, had their traditions and religions and chose men to make and administer laws. They elected head men and counsellors corresponding generally to our system of mayors and aldermen. A mong some of them women had rights beyond the hopes of the most enthusiastic suffragette of our time. For the most part they had a regard for law and observed a code of broad morals perhaps surpassing that of the peasants of the days of Ferdinand and I sabella. The whites came in contact with these people in 1539 and even then, it is said, the pottery and beautiful garments of the men and women caused much admiration among the Spaniards. These people grew their own cotton, wove it into cloth, dyed it and made it into garments. They had fields and irrigation works not makeshift individual schemes, but reservoirs and acqueducts that served the entire community and operated on a communal plan. They traded among themselves and with neighboring people, had their own religion and their priests. When it came to war the Pueblo, the dominant people, were found to be as able as in peace, but they went to battle only in defense. While their neighbors, the Navaho, were not the equal of the Pueblo in these steps toward civilization they were far in advance of the plains Indian of the country north. The first mention of the Navaho by the Spanish explorers is in 1598 and at that time the Indians had begun their work in silver, an art brought to them by the Mexicans. Surprisingly, weaving came to them through the Pueblo, for the Pueblo were weavers long before the Navaho. Then when the whites introduced
(Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)