170 THE PIMA INDIANS [eth. ans. 26 



Hoof rattles, usually of dcwclaws, were of universal distribution 

 among the American Indians and were common among the Pimas, 

 though none are to be found at the present day. Bartlett hgures 

 such a rattle in his Personal Narrative (ii, 223). 



Dancing 



Dancing was frequently indulged in by both sexes and was accom- 

 panied by song, together with instrumental music furnished by the 

 basket drum and the rattle. The dancers stood in a circle with arms 

 extended across the shoulders of those adjoining. This position did 

 not permit much freedom, and movements were confined to stamp- 

 ing the feet and bending the body. When food was plentifid dances 

 might occur at any time. Their number increased and their moral 

 character sadly deteriorated as the men relaxed their vigilance after 

 peace was made with the Apaches. The energy formerly expended 

 on the warpath was then wasted in debauchery. The dances began 

 in the morning and lasted all day. Both men and women came with 

 freshly painted faces and bodies, the women with their hair neatly 

 dres.sed. Each woman brought a contribution of food in the form of 

 mesquite dumplings, corn and wheat pinole or tortillas, meat, and 

 the like. Throughout the day a few at a time stopped to eat, so that 

 the dancing and the feasting both proceeded without interruption. For 

 an account of the war dances, see page 205; puberty dance, page 182. 



Festivals 



Of course all festivals partook somewhat of the nature of sacred 

 ceremonies, but when this element was at a nunimum, as in the 

 saguaro harvest festival, its description may properly appear here 

 with the arts of pleasure. These festivals were of annual occurrence, 

 except during the occasional seasons when the fruit failed. The 

 leaduig feature of these gathermgs was the preparation and drinking of 

 navait or saguaro liquor, and they became drunken orgies in which, 

 since the introduction of knives and firearms, men were sometimes 

 killed. The Government has prohibited "tizwin drunks," as they 

 are called by the whites, though they are still surreptitiously held. 



The sirup of the sagtuiro fruit is boiled for two days in the prepa- 

 ration of the liquor, and in the meantime the people gather and 

 dance hi the plaza nearest to the spot where the large ollas are sim- 

 mering. During the final carousal all the men and some of the women 

 become uitoxicated. Through the influence of the missionaries, 

 the native police under the agent's orders, and the actively exerted 

 influence of the more intelligent men in the tribe, the custom is d^ing 

 out. The subchief, Kaema-a (pi. ii, c), at Gila Crossing has been a 

 zealous advocate of temperance for a number of years, and it is 

 not unlikely that tlie folly of such debaucheries was apparent to 



