HAREINGTON] PLACE-NAMES 103 



"Almost opposite San Ildefonso [19:22] begins the deep and 

 picturesque cleft through which the Rio Grande has forced its 

 way. It is called 'Canon Blanco/ 'Canon del Norte,' or 'White 

 Rock Canon." Towering masses [Buckman Mesa [20:.5]] of lava, 

 basalt, and trap form its eastern walls; while on the west 

 those formations are capped, a short distance from the river, by 

 soft pumice and tufa." ' The eastern wall of the canyon ends in the 

 vicinity of Buckman [20:l'.iJ with the discontinuation of Buckman 

 Mesa [20:5], but is continued farther south by Ghino Mesa [29:1]. 

 The whole can^i'on is spoken of by Bandelier- as "the caiion 

 that separates San Ildefonso [19:22] from Cochiti [28:77]". He 

 also speaks of "the frowning walls of the Caja del Rio . . . with 

 their shaggy crests of lava and basaltic rock" as viewed from the 

 dell [28:22] looking east. 



"Except at the little basin [20:22], the Kio Grande leaves no space for set- 

 tlement between San Ildefonso [19:22] and Cochiti [28:77].^ It flows swiftlj- 

 through a continuous canon, with scarcely room for a single horseman along- 

 side the stream. The lower end of this caiion afforded the people of Cochiti 

 a good jjlace for communal fishing in former times. Large nets, made of yucca 

 fibre, were dragged up stream by two parties of men, holding the ends on each 

 bank. The shallowest portions of the river were selected, in order to allow a 

 man to walk behind the net in the middle of the stream. In this manner 

 portions of the river were almost despoiled of fish. The same improvidence 

 prevailed as in hunting, and the useful animals were gradually killed off. 

 After each fishing expedition, the product was divided among the clans pro 

 rata, and a part set aside for the highest religious officers and for the communal 

 stores."* 



See Posoge [Large Features:3], [8:64], also [19:125], [20:.5], 

 [28:81], [29:1]. 

 [Large Features: 5]. Tewanqyge 'Tewa country' (Tewa name of the 

 tribe; 7iqi)f 'earth' 'land'; ye 'down at' 'over at'). 



The Tewa consider their country the region between the Santa 

 Fe {T^ampije^r* piyy [Large Features:?]) and Jemez {Tsqinjnje^i^^ 

 piuf [Large Features:S]) Mountain Ranges, from the vicinity of 

 San Juan Pueblo [11: San Juan Pueblo] in the north to that of 

 San Ildefonso [19:22] and Tesuque [26 :S] pueblos in the south. 

 The Rio Grande Valley proper, that is, the narrow strip of culti- 

 vated laud on each side of the river, is called Tewlthege'Tc'Ka, dell' 

 (7km name of the tribe; he'e 'small, low, roundish place'; ge 'down 

 at' 'overat'). The entire low country of theTewa, extendingfrom 

 mountain range to mountain range and including high hills and 

 mesas, is called Teimhuge 'Tewa valley' {Tetm name of the tribe; 

 hull 'large, low, roundish place'; gd 'down at' 'over at'). The 



1 Bandelier, Final Report, pt. II, p. 79, 1892. 



2 Ibid., p. 179. 



2 The vicinity of Buckman [20:19] sliould also be excepted. 

 'Bandelier, op. oit.,p. U9. 



