Chapter 6 

 ABOUT THE MANNER OF LIFE WHICH THESE INDIANS LED. 



Tlie mode of living or of life which these Indians had is not of great 

 moment, for they led an idle and lazy life, more like that of brutes than 

 that of rational beings, and being ignorant of the arts, they had no 

 employment and profit with which to busy themselves for using up 

 their time, for they did not cultivate the ground or sow any kind of 

 seed, inasmuch as they subsisted on the wild seeds of various plants 

 which the earth produces, and on the fruits of trees, and on game ; 

 and therefore their tasks and labors were confined to the making of 

 bows and arrows (nor did all of them do this, for the youths did not 

 wish to work at anything, but the old men and the poor men), the 

 hunting of deer, cottontail rabbits, groundsquirrels, rats, etc., in order 

 to eat and dress, if going about in their bare skins, as they used to go, 

 can be called dress. For the clothing of the men consisted generally of 

 nothing but their naked skins, but some of them put a deer skin or 

 coyote skin over their shoulders, after the fashion of a cape. The 

 women prepared from the skins of cottontails and jackrabbits a kind of 

 cloak after the fashion of a choir-cope ; this they made as follows : 

 they kept twisting the skins, making a cord or string of them, long, and 

 about an inch thick ; this cord they sewed together turn on turn 

 making the cape, as I said. In front of their private parts they [the 

 women] wore certain little nets, or a kind of fringe made of grass 

 which reached nearly to their knees ; and nothing else except the 

 decorations of shells and bones in their ears and on their necks. 



Their way of spending their time was in playing games, taking trips 

 about, sleeping and dancing. The whole life of the men was confined 

 to this, except the old men and the poor men, who also busied them- 

 selves in making certain household utensils ; or again instruments for 

 working the bows and arrows, such as little saws, punches or awls, and 

 other similar things (the little saws they made from the shoulder- 

 blades of deer; and the borers or punches from their shin bones, as 

 well as from the bones of fish) ; in making nets for various uses : now 

 for fishing ; or again those which they use for carrying their utensils, 

 the women the babies ; for catching quails ; and for other uses. 



Among the women the mode of life followed was very different, 

 for they in addition to making the household utensils had to seek all 

 the things necessary for a livelihood, which are the wild seeds of the 

 country ; after gathering them [they had] to clean them, to grind 

 them or toast them for making their pinoles and various kinds of mush, 



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