The Trail Book by Mary Austin et al
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Mary Austin et al >> The Trail Book
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_Taryenya-wagon_ was the Great Spirit of the Five Nations, who was also
called "Holder of the Heavens."
Indian children always belong to the mother's side of the house. The
only way in which the Shaman's son could be born an Onondaga was for the
mother to be adopted into the tribe before the son was born. Adoptions
were very common, orphans, prisoners of war, and even white people being
made members of the tribe in this way.
THE SNOWY EGRET'S STORY
The Great Admiral was, of course, Christopher Columbus. You will find
all about him and the other Spanish gentlemen in the school history.
Something special deserves to be said about Panfilo de Narvaez, since it
was he who set the Spanish exploration of the territory of the United
States in motion. He landed on the west coast of Florida in 1548, and
after penetrating only a little way into the interior was driven out by
the Indians. But he left Juan Ortiz, one of his men, a prisoner among
them, who was afterward discovered by Soto and became his interpreter
and guide.
There is no good English equivalent for Soto's title of _Adelantado_. It
means the officer in charge of a newly discovered country. _Cay_ is an
old Spanish word for islet. "Key" is an English version of the same
word. _Cay Verde_ is "Green Islet."
The pearls of _Cofachique_ were fresh-water pearls, very good ones, too,
such as are still found in many American rivers and creeks.
The Indians that Soto found were very likely descended from the earlier
Mound-Builders of the Ohio Valley. They showed a more advanced
civilization, which was natural, since it was four or five hundred years
after the Lenni-Lenape drove them south. Later they were called "Creeks"
by the English, on account of the great number of streams in
their country.
_Cacique_ and _Cacica_ were titles brought up by the Spaniards from
Mexico and applied to any sort of tribal rulers. They are used in all
the old manuscripts and have been adopted generally by modern writers,
since no one knows just what were the native words.
The reason the Egret gives for the bird dances--that it makes the world
work together better--she must have learned from an Indian, since there
is always some such reason back of every primitive dance. It makes the
corn grow or the rain fall or the heart of the enemy to weaken. The
Cofachiquans were not the only people who learned their dances from the
water birds, as the ancient Greeks had a very beautiful one which they
took from the cranes and another from goats leaping on the hills.
THE PRINCESS'S STORY
Hernando de Soto landed first at Tampa Bay in Florida, and after a short
excursion into the country, wintered at Ana-ica Apalache, an Indian town
on Apalachee Bay, the same at which Panfilo de Narvaez had beaten his
spurs into nails to make the boats in which he and most of his men
perished. It was between Tampa and Anaica Apalache that Soto met and
rescued Juan Ortiz, who had been all that time a prisoner and slave to
the Indians.
When the Princess says that Talimeco was a White Town, she means that it
was a Town of Refuge, a Peace Town, in which no killing could be done.
Several Indian tribes had these sanctuaries.
In an account of Soto's expedition, which was written sometime afterward
from the stories of survivors, it is said by one that the Princess went
with him of her own accord, and by another that she was a prisoner. The
truth probably is that if she had not gone willingly, she would have
been compelled. There is also mention of the man to whom she gave the
pearls for assisting at her escape, six pounds of them, as large as
hazel nuts, though the man himself would never tell where he got them.
The story of Soto's death, together with many other interesting things,
can be read in the translation of the original account made by Frederick
Webb Hodge.
THE ROAD-RUNNER'S STORY
Cabeza de Vaca was one of Narvaez's men who was cast ashore in one of
the two boats ever heard from, on the coast of Texas. He wandered for
six years in that country before reaching the Spanish settlements in Old
Mexico, and it was his account of what he saw there and in Florida that
led to the later expeditions of both Soto and Coronado.
Francisco de Coronado brought his expedition up from Old Mexico in 1540,
and reached Wichita in the summer of 1541. His party was the first to
see and describe the buffalo. There is an account of the expedition
written by Castenada, one of his men, translated by Frederick Webb
Hodge, which is easy and interesting reading.
The Seven Cities were the pueblos of Old Zuni, some of which are still
inhabited. Ruins of the others may be seen in the Valley of Zuni in New
Mexico. The name is a Spanish corruption of _Ashiwi_, their own name for
themselves. We do not know why the early explorers called the
country "Cibola."
The Colorado River was first called _Rio del Tizon_, "River of the
Brand," by the Spaniards, on account of the local custom of carrying
fire in rolls of cedar bark. Coronado's men were the first to discover
the Grand Canon.
_Pueblo_, the Spanish word for "town," is applied to all Indians living
in the terraced houses of the southwest. The Zunis, Hopis, and Queres
are the principal pueblo tribes.
You will find _Tiguex_ on the map, somewhere between the Ty-uonyi and
the place where the Corn Woman crossed the Rio Grande. _Cicuye_ is on
the map as Pecos, in Texas.
The Pawnees at this time occupied the country around the Platte River.
Their name is derived from a word meaning "horn," and refers to their
method of dressing the scalplock with grease and paint so that it stood
up stiffly, ready to the enemy's hand. Their name for themselves is
Chahiksichi-hiks, "Men of men."
THE CONDOR'S STORY
The _Old Zuni Trail_ may still be followed from the Rio Grande to the
Valley of Zuni. _El Morro_, or "Inscription Rock," as it is called, is
between Acoma and the city of Old Zuni which still goes by the name of
"Middle Ant Hill of the World."
In a book by Charles Lummis, entitled _Strange Corners of Our Country_,
there is an excellent description of the Rock and copies of the most
interesting inscriptions, with translations.
The Padres of Southwestern United States were Franciscan Friars who came
as missionaries to the Indians. They were not all of them so unwise as
Father Letrado.
_Peyote_, the dried fruit of a small cactus, the use of which was only
known in the old days to a few of the Medicine Men. The effect was like
that of opium, and gave the user visions.
THE DOG SOLDIER'S STORY
The Cheyenne Country, at the time of this story, was south of the
Pawnees, along the Taos Trail. All Plains Indians move about a great
deal, so that you will not always hear of them in the same neighborhood.
You can read how the Cheyennes were saved from the Hoh by a dog, in a
book by George Bird Grinnell, called the _Fighting Cheyennes_. There is
also an account in that book of how their Medicine Bundle was taken from
them by the Pawnees, and how, partly by force and partly by trickery,
three of the arrows were recovered.
The Medicine Bundle of the tribe is as sacred to them as our flag is to
us. It stands for something that cannot be expressed in any other way.
They feel sure of victory when it goes out with them, and think that if
anything is done by a member of the tribe that is contrary to the
Medicine of the Tribe, the whole tribe will suffer for it. This very
likely is the case with all national emblems; at any rate, it would
probably be safer while our tribe is at war not to do anything contrary
to what our flag stands for. All that is left of the Cheyenne Bundle is
now with the remnant of the tribe in Oklahoma. The fourth arrow is still
attached to the Morning Star Bundle of the Pawnees, where it may be seen
each year in the spring when the Medicine of the Bundle is renewed.
This is the song the Suh-tai boy--the Suh-tai are a sub-tribe of the
Cheyenne--made for his war club:--
"Hickory bough that the wind makes strong,--
I made it--
Bones of the earth, the granite stone,--
I made it--
Hide of the bull to bind them both,--
I made it--
Death to the foe who destroys our land,--
We make it!"
The line that the Suh-tai boy drew between himself and the pursuing
Potawatomi was probably a line of sacred meal, or tobacco dust, drawn
across the trail while saying, "Give me protection from my enemies; let
none of them pass this line. Shield my heart from them. Let not my life
be threatened." Unless the enemy possesses a stronger Medicine, this makes
one safe.
GLOSSARY OF INDIAN AND SPANISH NAMES
[Transcribers Note: ASCII just doesn't contain all the characters
required for the Glossary. This is an _attempt_ at rendering the Glossary.]
ae sounds like a in father
a " " a " bay
a " " a " fat
a " " a " sofa
_e_ " " a " ace
e " " e " met
e " " e " me
e " " e " her
_i_ " " e " eve
i " " i " pin
i " " i " pine
o " " o " note
o " " o " not
u " " oo " food
u " " u " nut
Ae'-co-mae
A-ch_e_'-s_e_
Ae-d_e_-laen-tae-do
Ael-tae-pae'-hae
Ael'-vaer Nunez (noon'-yath) Cae-b_e_'-zae (thae) d_e_ Vae'-cae
Aen-ae-_i_'-cae
Ae-pach'-e
Ae-pae-lae'-ch_e_
Ae-pun-ke'-wis
Aer-aep'-ae-hoes
Aer-rum'-pae
Bael-bo'-ae
B_i_'s-cay'-n_e_
Cabeza de Vaca (cae-b_e_'-thae d_e_ Vae'-cae)
C-c_i_'-cae
Cae-c_i_que'
Cae-ho'-ki-a
Cay Verd'-e
Cen-t_e_-o'-tl_i_
Chae-hik-s_i_-ch_i_'-hiks
Cheyenne (shi-en')
Ch_i_-ae'
Chihuahua (ch_i_-wae'-wa)
C_i_'-bo-lae
C_i_'-cu-y_e_
C_i_'-no-aeve
Co-ch_i_'-t_i_
Co-fae-vh_i_'qu_e_
Co-faeque'
Co-man'ch_e_
Cor-t_e_z'
D_i_-n_e_'
_E_l Mor'-ro
_E_s'-t_e_-vaen
Fraen-c_i_s'-co d_e_ Co-ro-nae'-do
Fraen-c_e_s'-co L_e_-trae'-do
Gae-hon'-gae
Gaen-dae'-yaeh
Hae-lo'-nae
Hae'-w_i_-kuh
Her-naen'-do d_e_ So'-to
H_i_s-pae-n_i_-o'-lae
Ho'-gan
Ho-h_e_'
Ho'-p_i_
Ho-tai' (ti)
How-ka-waen'-dae
_I_'-ro-quois
_I_s'-lay
_I_s-s_i_-wuen'
Juan de Onate (hwaen d_e_ on-yae'-t_e_)
Juan Ortiz (hwaen or'-t_i_z)
Kae-b_e_y'-d_e_
Kae-nae'-w_a_h
Kas-kas'-kl-_a_
Kaet'-zi-mo
K'ia-k_i_'-mae
Ki'-o-was
Kit-kaeh-haeh'-k_i_
K_i_'-vae
Ko-ko'-mo
Koos-koos'-ki
Ko-shae'-r_e_
Len'-n_i_-Len-ape'
Lue'-caes de Ayllon (Il'-yon)
Lujan (lue-haen')
Mahiz (m_ae-iz'_)
Mae'-huets
Mael-do-nae'-do
Maet'-sae-k_i_
Men'-gwe
Mesquite (m_es_-keet')
Min'-go
Mo-h_i'_-can-it'-tueck
Mo-k_e_-ich'-ae
M'toue'-lin
Mues-king'-ham
Nae-mae-s_i_p'-pu
Narvaez (naer-vae'-_e_th)
Navajo (nae'-vae-ho)
N_i-e'_-to
No'-pael
Nue-ke'-wis
Occatilla (oc-cae-t_i_l'-ya)
Ock-muel'-gee
O'-co-n_ee_
O-cuet'-_e_
O
O-dow'-as
O-g_e'_-ch_ee_
Olla (ol'-yae)
Ong-yae-tas'-s_e_
On-on-da'-gae
O-pae'-tae
O-wen-ueng'-ae
Paen-f_i_'-lo de Naer-vae'-_e_z (_e_th)
Paen-ue'-co
Paw-nee'
P_e_'-cos
P_e_'-dro Mo'-ron
P_e_-r_i_'-co
P_e_-yo'-t_e_
P_i_-rae'-guaes
Pitahaya (pit-ae-hi'-ae)
P_i_-zaer'-ro
Ponce (pon'-th_e_) d_e_ L_e_-on'
Pot-ae-waet'-ae-m_i_
Pueblo (pweb'-to)
Qu_e_-r_e'_-chos
Qu_e'_-r_e_s
Qu_e_-r_e_-saen'
Qu_i_-v_i'_-rae
R_i'_-to de los Frijoles (fr_i_-ho'-l_e_s)
Sahuaro (sae-wae'-ro)
Scioto (si-o'-to)
Shae'-m_a_n
Sh_i_-nak'-_i_
Sh_i_'p-ae-pue'
Sh_i_-w_i_'-nae
Sho-sho'-n_e_s
Shueng-ae-k_e'_-lae
Sons _e'_-so, ts_e'_-nae
Sueh-tai' (ti)
Tae'-kue-Wae'-kin
Tael-_i_-m_e'_-co
Tael-l_e'_-gae
Tael-l_e_-g_e'_-w_i_
Tae'-mael-Py-we-ack'
Tae'-os
Taer-yen-y_a_-wag'-on
Tejo (ta'-ho)
Ten'-ae-saes
T_e_-o-cael'-_e_s
Thlae-po-po-k_e_'-ae
T_i_-ae'-kens
Tiguex (t_i_'-gash)
T_i_'-p_i_
Tom'-b_e_s
To-yae-laen'-n_e_
Ts_e_-ts_e_-yo'-t_e_
Ts_i_s-ts_i_s'-taes
Tus-cae-loos'-ae
Ty-ue-on'-y_i_
U-ae-kaen-y_i_'
Vaer'-gaes
Wae-bae-moo'-in
Wae-bae-n_i_'-k_i_
Wae-bae-sh_i_'-k_i_
Wap'-i-ti
W_i_ch'-_i_-taes
Zuni (zun'-yee)
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