OCR Text |
Show 24G THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE A ZUNI SMILE Like most of the other Pueblo tribes, the Zufii are quiet tempered, industrious, and friendly. years ago, as by their descendants of today and the latter's near neighbors, the Navajo. Turquoise, symbolic of the blue desert sky! Turquoise, whose soft colors embody the spirit of the vaulted heavens and the restless expanse of mystic oceans ! Indians of the mesa country are rated not by the number of their horses, their sheep, or their goats, hut by the amount and perfection of their turquoise possessions. Turquoise to the southwestern Indian is as the diamond to city-dwellers. A pendant worth $10 by weight will, if its color has been tested through long use, buy ioo goats or 30 ponies. Perfect stones from prehistoric ruins are priceless. When the Expedi-t i o n's incomparable necklace first came to light, every Indian on the force dropped his shovel and hurried to peer over the wall. The Zufii boys lost interest in the excavations; the Navajo lost their fear of the evil spirits that h o v er a b o u t burial places. All draped themselves over the insecure walls to watch what was going on in the deep room below. Our original Americans possess s o me mysterious means of radio communication -a highly developed mental telepathy-or a method of transmitting thought that still defies detection. Let some important event take place and every Indian for miles about seemingly will know of it before you have a chance to send word to him. And so it was with the necklace. F i ve minutes after my hand trowel had cut away the covering of earth to reveal this most unexpected and magnificent discovery, every one of our workmen was there as an inspector of operations. It was impossible to gage their inner feelings. They talked in whispers. Silently they watched our tiny brushes sweep away the particles of earth and sand. And when at last the blue stones shone forth in all their ancient splendor, such subdued exclamations as rose from our audience; such obvious admiration; such reverence, almost, with which they looked upon this treasure of a thousand years ago! (See Color Plate IV.) And a happy boy it was who received the task of removing the specimen. Photograph by O ?ood- |