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Show EVERYDAY LIFE IN PUEBLO BONITO 247 Turquoise deposits in New Mexico and Arizona h a v e been worked since ancient times and at least one of them furnished the Bonitians with their matrix. Possession of such deposits g a ve great prestige to a community, for the m i n e r a l frequently served as a medium of exchange. The famous Tiffany mines at Los Cerrillos, s o u t h of Santa Fe, are still claimed by the Indians of Santo Domingo. F r a y Marcos de Niza, setting f o r th from Culiacan in 1539 to search out the fabled "Seven Cities of Cibola," met Mexican I n d i a n s returning from the north with chalchihuitl purchased with feathers f r om tropical birds. Even in olden times the treasures of one region were more highly valued by the residents of another. WOMEN B U I L T AND OWNED THE BONITIAN HOMES The wealth of Pueblo Bonito was widely famed in prehistoric days. It brought venders of parrots from Tamaulipas and Vera Cruz; it prompted native dealers in sea shells to the difficult and dangerous foot-journey eastward from the Pacific; it tempted nomadic desert folk to recurrent and devastating attacks. Although a thousand years have passed since Pueblo Bonito was in its heyday, it is still venerated, at least in Navajo tales, because of the jewels worn by its builders. But the Bonitians themselves were not lost in idle ostentation. They have left too convincing a record of their industry, their tireless energy, their lack of content Photograph by O. C. Havens A TURQUOISE DRILLER For ages turquoise has been the highly prized treasure of the Indians of the Southwest. with existing things. On festive occasions, when dancers marched from the kiva publicly to invoke aid of the rain gods or to give thanks for successful harvests, the finest raiment of the villagers was displayed; at other times bare backs bent to numerous and arduous tasks. Among all the diversified activities of Pueblo Bonito, few were more persistently practiced than that of house-building. Like the proverbial beaver, the Bonitian was always busy; but, unlike the beaver, he seems rarely to have been satisfied with his own creations. Just why this should be, it is impossible to say. It may well have resulted from the inevitable |