166 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 34 



left in the brush, or buried aHve. But there are also instances of 

 the purely criminal infanticide — of the killing of a normal child by its 

 mother or some of her near female relatives. As a rule the child in 

 a case of this kind is either a mixed-blood (with an American, or 

 white Mexican, or, rarely, a negro father) or the mother is an unmar- 

 ried girl, ashamed of her condition. 



One of the San Carlos men informed the wTiter that the new-born 

 infant who "has no father" (meaning a half breed) is sometimes thrown 

 into brush and abandoned. One specific case was mentioned. Among 

 the Mescaleros, according to one of the tribe, if a monstrous child is 

 born — a very rare occurrence — it is killed. Half-bloods also in most 

 instances are not allowed to live, being destroyed either by induced 

 abortion, or by choking immediately after birth. The latter act is 

 very infrequent and is effected by the grandmother or some relative, 

 not the mother. 



Among the Pima, according to Chief Antonio's sister, infanticide is 

 rare. Quite recently one of the educated girls became pregnant by a 

 wdiite man. As the gestation advanced to near the end, she was 

 observed to have a rope hanging from the roof, upon which she pulled 

 herself up and then dropped down. On another occasion she w as seen 

 to run wildly against the door and strike it w ith her abdomen. Finally 

 a live child was born, but it died the same night. The cause of death 

 w^as not learned. In another case, about 1860, a young mother 

 killed a child 4 or 5 months old. She was "a bad woman who ran 

 much with white men" and eventually contracted syjjhilis and died. 

 She w as seen to take her child with her on the road and while walldng 

 far from the village throw it up into the air and catch it. This she 

 repeated several times until once she did not extend her arms and the 

 child fell to the ground. It became unconscious and she went to the 

 graveyard near by where she wanted to bury it. Just then it began 

 to cry again wdiereupon she killed it, probably by choking. 



At Zuni five specific instances were heard of in each of which a 

 newborn infant came to death through its mother. In two of these 

 cases the children, born out of wedlock, were supposed to have 

 been killed purposely very soon after birth. In tlu-ee other instances, 

 which may not have been intentional, the babies were suffocated by 

 their mothers rolling upon them at night. 



Crime 



The most frequent and most serious transgressions among the 

 Indians here dealt with, at the present time, are deeds of violence due 

 to intoxication. In their normal state the Indians will deceive and 

 some will steal, and these lapses embrace by far the greater part of 

 their criminality. Juvenile offenders of serious grade are rare, and the 

 same is true of female adults, even if those spoken of in the preceding 



