THE PIMA INDIANS 



By Frank Russell 



INTRODUCTION 



From November,. 1901, until June, 1902, the writer made his head- 

 quarters at Sacaton (see pi. i),on the Gila River reservation, in south- 

 ern Arizona, where he was engaged in a study of the Pima tribe. With 

 the aid of five native interpreters information was obtained from ten 

 Pima men and women, ° selected because of their intelligence and 

 special aptitude in certain Imes. With so many persons engageil in 

 the investigations, the work of one frequently overlapped and served 

 as a check on that of another. This made it possible to obtain a quite 

 full account of Piman etlmology for the time employed. A house-to- 

 house canvass of the villages, week after week, month after month, led_ 

 to personal contact with nearly every household on the reservation 

 and visits were made also to the Salt River Pimas and tlie desert 

 Kwahadk's. One valuable result was the collection of more than 300 

 specimens illustrative of nearly all Piman arts, gathered from among 

 a people w^hom poverty had induced to dispose of so many of their 



o The name and a brief sketch of each of the author's informants and interpreters are here given: 



Informants. Ka'maltkak. Thin Leather (pi. xuv, 6), an old man, is said to be the most popular of the 

 few remaining narrators of myths and spcHMjhes. or " speakers." lie is an intimate friend of the head 

 chief, Antonio Azul (pi. ii.o', and hjis alwaysoccupiedaprominent place in the councils of the tribe. In 

 his prime he exceeded feet in stature and was strong and sturdy of frame. Indeed, his hand grasp 

 is yet vigorous enough to make his silent and friendly greeting somewhat formidable. Intelligent. 

 patient, dignified, his intluence must have been helpful to those youths who formerly came to him for 

 instruction. From him was obtained the cosmogonical myth of the tribe, many speeches, songs, and 

 much general information. He also made a model of a loom and a fewother specimens for the collection 

 of material pertaining to the Pimas. 



Sala Ilina. Sarah Fish, or Ilina (fig. '»!), as she was called by her people, was recommended as one of 

 the most intelligent of the older women. An earnest Christian, she had no scruples about relating all 

 that she knew concerning the religious beliefs of the tribe. She had undergone a long and exacting 

 training in practical botany which rendered her a valuable assistant in gathering information concern- 

 ing the economic plants of the region. Taught by gaunt Hunger, she and her kind had learned to know 

 and use a large numl^er of vegetal products. She inherited through her father some of the Kwahadk' 

 potters' skill, which enabled her to impart valuable knowledge of the art and to furnish specimens. 



Sika'tcu, Dry. an old woman, is the half sister of .Vntonio Azul and is one of the best known nurses 

 and midwives about the Sacatoft settlement. Though unable to speak English, after a few interviews 

 with an interpreter she was ipuck to understand by means of signs and a few Pima words when to pose 

 for photographs and the like. Among her earliest recollections was the sight of the covered wagons of 

 the emigrant trains that followed the Gila route in such numbers during the early years of the California 

 gold excitement. Her memory therefore extends over a quarter of a century of the period of bitterest 



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