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Show CHAPTER XII INDIAN TRIBES OF THE SOUTHWEST AND OF MEXICO ( 1500- 1900) IN the great arid stretches of the southwest appear a considerable number of tribes which may be conveniently grouped into two general classes according to their manner of living- viz., pueblo and non- pueblo peoples. The non- pueblo group includes representatives of the Athapascan, Piman, Yuman, and Shoshonean stocks. Of these the Athapascan are the most numerous and in many ways the most interesting and comprise the two well- known tribes of the Navajo and Apache. How they became separated from their kindred of the far north and how they reached their present home is one of the puzzles of American ethnology.* The Navajo have an interesting legend describing their origin and early history, according to which they are not a homogeneous people but a very mixed one, containing, in addition to the original , Cf. Boas, " Northern Elements in the Mythology of the Navajo" ( American Anthropologist, X. t371); Hodge," TheEarly Navajo and Apache " ( American Anthropologist, VIII., 339). 176 |