VII. NAMES OF MINERALS 



Alabaster. Bandelier' mentions an "alabaster" image of the morn- 

 ing star seen liy him at San Juan. He probablj^ mistook some 

 other mineral for alabaster. The Tewa appear to have no name 

 in their language for alabaster. 



^A,dsse 'alkali' (V] 'alkali' 'salty substance'; Kse 'burning' to the taste; 

 cf. 'gnya? 'salt'). This name is applied also to the mineral ob- 

 tained at [3:14] and known in New Mexican Span, as tequesquite. 

 The substance is encrusted on the ground about the tequesquite 

 spring [3:14]. It is of a pinkish color and bitter, saltj- taste. It 

 is used ))y the Tewa as a purgative medicine, also instead of soda 

 to raise tortillas. It is composed mainly of NajSo^ and Na2C03 

 according to analysis made by the United States Department of 

 Agriculture. 



'Anj>sR 'salt' ('g 'alkali'; nfx perhaps as in IciiDfx 'turquoise', 

 q. v.). Salt occurs at [13:35], [18:15], and the Salinas [29:110], 

 q. V. See also myths about salt, pages 229, 536-537. 



The saline deposits of New Mexico are large and have produced salt from 

 time immemorial, the Indians having sought these deposits before the advent of 

 the Spaniards. The oldest and best known salt deposits are those of the big Salt 

 Lake on the Estancia Plains in Torrance County. This lake also lias heavy 

 dejwsits of bloedite, tlie only place in the United States where this rare mineral 

 has been found. It is a hydrous double sulphate of soda and magnesia. 



The Salt Lakes of the White Sands in Otero County, the Zufii Crater Salt 

 Lake in Valencia County, which produces the best salt in the Territory and is 

 in a constant process of formation, having at present a deposit of several mil- 

 lion tons, tlie Salt Lakes in western Socorro County and the Salt Lakes east 

 of the Pecos in Eddy County, are tlie principal salt producers, although saline 

 flats and salt springs occur in other parts. Thus far, none of this crude salt 

 is refined fur commercial jiurposes, but is used only to salt stock or by the 

 poorer people as a substitute for commercial table salt.- 



Buwa{jaie)hu 'bread stone' {buwa 'bread', buwajaie 'paper bread'; 

 hu 'stone'). This is a kind of fine-grained sandstone, slabs of 

 which are cut and polished and used for baking guayave (Tewa 

 huwajahe), the wafer bread of the Indians. This stone is obtained 

 at Pijoge [21:2], north of the Black Mesa [l:unlocated], in the 

 upper Chama drainage, and at Buwakt/pa^mve [14:32], upper 

 Chama drainage. The name is applied to the stone both in situ 

 and to the shaped slab. 



1 Final Report, pt. i. p. S09, 1890. 



2 Land of Sunshine, a Book of Resources of New Mexico, pp. 107-109, 1906. 



579 



