RUSSELU] ANNALS 37 



notcli luidbc'i^in: "Tlial notch means," etc. The interpreter, either 

 thn)ii<;li imitation or because of tlie same mode of thought, would tlien 

 take tlie stick and dig liis thumb into the same notch before repeating 

 the story in Enghsh. Botli seemed to endow tlie stick and the par- 

 ticular notch with a definite personality in their minds. That notch 

 looked exactly like its neighbors but it stood for something different, 

 which was apparently recalled as much by the sense of touch as by 

 that of sight. 



Dots or shallow circular pits and slu)rt notches are the most com- 

 mon symbols on the sticks. These have no <listinctive meaning, and 

 are used for recording a great variety of events. The human figure 

 is freely used, and may signify that a man killed Apaches or was killed 

 by them, that he was bitten by a rattlesnake, struck by lightning, or, 

 in short, any event relating to a man in any manner may ])e denoted 

 by this symbol. The date of building railways was recorded by an 

 ideogram, representing rails and ties. Only one sjanbol had come 

 arbitrarily to designate a single event. This is the T wliich was used 

 to record the ''tizwin drunks,"' or festivals at which saguaro or agave 

 liquor was brewed and freely imbibed. 



NATURE OF THE EVENTS 



It has been fre(|ucntly observed that the records of the .Vnicrican 

 Indians contain much that is trivial and oftentimes omit that which 

 is important. There are obvious reasons for this that have lieen 

 adequately set forth by ilallery," and it must also be borne in mind 

 that the relative importance of an event differs according as it is 

 viewed by Caucasian eyes or by those of the ^Vmerican Indian. Judg- 

 ing by the early portions of the records, the conclusion might be 

 reached that the purpose was to secure chronologic secjuence, though 

 the Pinuis are not known to have liad ceremonies that by their in fre- 

 cjuent recurrence would require calendric regulation. However, tlie 

 later years are so filled with events that the primary purpose is clearly 

 narrative. They are therefore to be designated annals, rather tlian 

 calendars. Moreover, the j-ears are never named. "In this 3'ear 

 the crops failed;" "In this year the floods overspread the whole val- 

 ley," etc., but never, "This is the famine year" or "This is the flood 

 year." Upon analysis the events recorded are found to be distrib- 

 uted as follows: 



Battles or skirmishes 66 



Iiil"ri-(iuc>nt pheiiuinona, eclipses, floods, earlhtiuakes, etc 14 



Famines and years of abundance 5 



Epidemics 11 



Accidents, rattlesnake bite, lightning stroke, etc 13 



Events relating to whites, but not to Pimas 19 



o Tenth ,\nnujil Report ot the Bureau of Ethnology, 271. 



