102 



OBOZI OCANA 



[I 



upper Red r., apparently in w. Texas. 

 Not identified, and probably imaginary. 



Obozi. One of the 36 tribes of Texas 

 said by Juan Sabeata, a Jumano Indian, to 

 have lived in 1683 on "Nueces" r., 3 days' 

 journey eastward from the mouth of the 

 Conchos (Cruzate in jNIendoza, Viage, 

 MS. in Arch ivo General). Ithasnotbeen 

 identified, although some of the others in 

 his list have been. The Nueces r. men- 

 tioned by him was not necessarily the 

 modern Nueces. (h. e. b. ) 



Obsidian. A volcanic glass much used 

 by the Indian tribes for implements and 

 ornaments. It is generally black or 

 blackish in color, but some varieties are 

 brownish, reddish, and greenish in hue, 

 and sometimes display mottled effects. 

 Occasionally it is translucent, and in rare 

 instances fully transparent. It is not 

 found in the United States e. of the 

 Rocky mts., but occurs in enormous 

 bodies in Yellowstone Park, in Califor- 

 nia and Oregon, and to a lesser extent in 

 Idaho, Nevada, New IMexico, Arizona, 

 and in other western states. The more 

 homogeneous masses of obsidian are easily 

 broken up, and are flaked into desired 

 shapes with less difficulty than any other 

 kind of stone. Considerable evidence of 

 the shaping of implements is observable 

 in Yellowstone Park, especially in the 

 vicinity of Obsidian canyon, where a 

 body of nearly solid glass 100 ft or more 

 in thickness, is exposed (Holmes). More 

 extensive workings have been located in 

 New Mexico, Arizona, and California, 

 but no quarries of importance are known. 

 Implements of obsidian are rare e. of the 

 Rocky mts. Occasional flaked specimens 

 have been found in the mounds, and a 

 remarkable deposit of implements was 

 discovered in a burial mound on Hope- 

 well farm, near Chillicothe, Ohio. This 

 deposit, unearthed by Moorehead in 

 1892 and now preserved in the Field 

 Museum of Natural History, Chicago, 

 consists of several hundred beautifully 

 shaped blades of large size and remarkable 

 conformation, as well as many smaller ob- 

 jects, not a few of which have been injured 

 by exposure to fire on an earthen altar. 

 The material is black throughout, though 

 slightly translucent when seen in thin 

 section. Its origin can not be determined. 

 The nearest deposit of similar character 

 in place is in the Yellowstone Park, 1,500 

 miles away; but as no trace of the manu- 

 facture of implements of this character 

 has been found in that section, it seems 

 probable that the material was brought 

 from Mexico or from the Pacific coast, 

 the known deposits in the former coun- 

 try, in the state of Hidalgo, being 1,600 

 m., and in the latter, Napa and other cos. 

 in California, 2,000 m. awaj\ Along with 

 the obsidian implements were found many 



implements and ornaments made of cop- 

 per, shell, and other substances obtained 

 from distant localities. 



Many exceptionally interesting objects 

 made of obsidian are found in the Pacific 

 states. These include beautifully shaped 

 blades, probably used as knives (q. v.), 

 obtained mostly from the living tribes, the 

 larger measuring more than 30 in. in 

 length and 5 in. in width; knife blades 

 of sickle or hook shape from mounds 

 near Stockton, Cal. (Meredith, Holmes), 

 and large numbers of delicately shaped 

 arrowpoints from the valley of the Co- 

 lumbia. The larger knives were in- 

 tended for ceremonial rather than for 

 ordinary use. Of these. Powers says: 

 "There are other articles paraded and 

 worn in this and other ceremonial dances 

 which they will on no account part with, 

 at least to an American, though they 

 sometimes manufacture them to order 

 for one another. One of these is the 

 flake or knife of obsidian or jasper. I 

 have seen several which were 15 in. or 

 more in length and about 2h in. wide 

 in the widest part. Pieces as large as 

 these are carried aloft in the hand in 

 the dance, wrapped with skin or cloth to 

 prevent the rough edges from lacer- 

 ating the hand, but the smaller ones are 

 mounted on wooden handles and glued 

 fast. The large ones can not be purchased 

 at any price, but I procured some about 

 6 in. long at $2.50 apiece. These are 

 not properly 'knives,' but jewelry for 

 sacred purposes, passing current also as 

 money." More recent and detailed ac- 

 counts are given by Goddard, Kroeber, 

 and Rust. Kroeber describes at some 

 length the use of the knives in ceremonies 

 and refers to them as primarily objects of 

 wealth. On account of its brittleness 

 implements of obsidian were shaped 

 usually by flaking, but rare specimens 

 have been produced, or at least finished, 

 by pecking and grinding. (See Stone- 

 work. 



Consult Goddard in Univ. Cal. Pub., 

 Am. Archa'ol. and Ethnol., i, no. 1, 1903; 

 Holmes (1) in Rep. Nat. Mus. 1902, 1903, 

 (2) in Am. Nat., xiii, 1879, (3) in Am. 

 Anthrop., ii, 1900; Kroeber, ibid., vii, 

 1905; Kunz, Gems and Precious Stones, 

 1890; Meredith (l)in Moorehead, Prehist. 

 Impls., 1900, (2) in Land of Sunshine, 

 II, no. 5, 1899; Moorehead in The An- 

 tiquarian, I, pts. 10 and 11, 1897; Powers 

 inCont. N. A. Ethnol., in, 1877; Ralstonin 

 The Archaeologist, ii, 1898; Rust in Am. 

 Anthrop., vii, 1905. (w. n. h.) 



Ocaboa. A former Papago village in 

 s. Arizona. — Taylor in Cal. Farmer, June 

 19, 1863. 



Ocana. A tribe or subtribe, perhaps 

 Coahuiltecan, met by Massanet (Diario, 

 in Mem. Nneva Espaiia, xxvii, 92, MS. ) a 



