414 ISLETA, NEW MEXICO [eth. ann. 47 



attorney is conducted to one of the 2-storied houses of the townJ 

 "We ascended a ladder . . . and entered a small and badly-lighted 

 room, where we found a shriveled-up old Indian, entirely naked, 

 except a small cloth about his loins and moccasins upon the feet. 

 Master James made laiown the object of our visit, and told him we 

 were not Mexicans, and would neither injure nor carry away the 

 god, which assurance was necessary, as none of that race are per- 

 mitted to look upon it. A conference was now held between the 

 man that accompanied us, the old keeper, and an old hag of a woman 

 who had come in in the meantime, and in a few minutes we were 

 informed that we could see Montezuma. The old woman was dis- 

 patched to bring it in, who returned after a short absence, carrying 

 something in her arms, wrapped up in an old cloth, which she placed 

 carefully upon the floor. The cloth was then removed, and their 

 favorite god stood before our eyes. I was much disappointed in its 

 appearance, it being a much ruder affair than I was prepared to see. 

 I had expected to see something in imitation of man or beast, but 

 there was presented to our sight an object that neither resembled 

 anything upon the earth, in the heavens above, or in the sea 

 beneath, and I felt that it could hardly be sinful in the poor 

 ignorant Indians to fall down and worship it. The god Montezuma 

 is made of tanned skin of some sort and the form is circular, 

 being about nine inches in height and the same in diameter. 

 The top is covered with the same material, but the lower end is 

 open, and one-half is painted red and the other green. Upon 

 the green side is fashioned the rude representation of a man's face. 

 Two oblong apertures in the skin, in the shape of right-angled tri- 

 angles, with the bases inward, are the eyes; there is no nose, and a 

 circular piece of leather, fastened about two inches below the eyes, 

 represents the mouth; and two similar pieces, one on each side, oppo- 

 site the outer corners of the eyes, are intended for the ears.* This 

 completes the personnel of the god, with the addition of a small tuft 

 of leather upon the top, which is dressed with feathers when it is 

 brought out to be worshipped upon public days. The three Indians 

 present looked upon it with the greatest apparent veneration, they 

 knelt aroimd it in the most devout manner, and went through a form 

 of prayer, while one of the number sprinkled upon it a white powder 

 [corn meal]. Mateo, the Indian who accompanied us, spoke in praise 

 of Montezuma, and told us that it was God and the brother of God. 

 After contemplating this singular spectacle for a few minutes, we 



' These surround the small central plaza. They are without doors, a ladder to the second story being 

 used. The rooms are "small, low, and badly ventilated, and a few small pieces of foliated gypsum set in 

 the thick wall admit the light." .\s to-day, there are three openings into the plaza. The population is 

 reckoned at 1,000. One of the head men related that the site of the town was found by four men sent out 

 at a time of famine to search for a new home. -\lso, that during the Great Rebellion of 1680 the people fled 

 from the Spaniards to Zuiii. (Davis, 393-394.) 



« Cp. Dumarest, 209, and figure 30 



