BUL RKK.] 



CHALCHIHUITL. 



589 



qucncy in the old Spanish writings, as we shall presently see, and 

 was in all places and by all tribes possessing it revered in much 

 the same manner as by the 

 Apache. The Apache call it 

 duklij, &quot;blue (or green) stone,&quot; 

 these two colors not being differ 

 entiated in their language. A 

 small bead of this mineral affixed 

 to a gun or bow made the weapon 

 shoot accurately. It had also 

 some relation to the bringing of 

 rain, and could be found by the 

 man who would go to the end of a 

 rainbow, after a storm, and hunt 

 diligently in the damp earth. It 

 was the Apache medicine-man s 

 badge of otlice, his medical di 

 ploma, so to speak, and without 

 it he could not in olden times ex 

 ercise his medical functions. 

 In the curious commerce of the 



Iteir view. 



Front view. 

 Flo. 4-15. T/.i-ilaltni amulet (Apache). 



Indian tribes, some possessed articles of greater worth than those belong 

 ing to their neighbors. In the southwest the red paint sold by the 

 tribes living in the Grand Canyon of the Colorado was held in higher 



repute than any other, and the green 

 stone to be purchased from the Ilio Grande 

 Pueblos always was in great demand, as it 

 is to this day. Vetancurt 1 speaks of the 

 Apache, between the years 1030 and 1080, 

 coming to the pueblo of Pecos to trade 

 for&quot;chalchihuites.&quot; John de Laet speaks 

 of &quot;petites pierres verdes&quot; worn in the 

 lower lip by the Brazilians. 2 



Among }he Mexicans the chalchihuitl 

 seems to have been the distinguishing 

 mark or badge of the priesthood. Duraii, 

 in speaking of the consecration of a sacri 

 ficial stone in Mexico by Monte/.uma the 

 elder, aiid his assistant or coadjutor, Tla- 

 caclel, says: &quot;Echaronse 4 las espaldas 

 uuas olletas [I do not know what this 

 wor d means] hcchas de piedras verdes 

 muy ricas, donde signiftcaban quo no solamente erau Keyes, pero jun- 

 tamente Sacerdotes.&quot; 3 



Among the tribes in Central America, a chalchihuitl was placed in 



1 Teatro Mexicano, vol. 3, p. 323. Lib. 14, cap. 4, and lib. 16, cap. 16. &quot;Lib. 1. cap. 23, pp. 251-252. 



FIG. 44(i.-T&amp;gt;.i-rtuiia 



