252 



PIMA 



[b. a. b. 



Opata. The others descended from the 

 mountains whence they had fled, resettled 

 the valley of the Salt, and again tilled 

 the soil. They never rebuilt the substan- 

 tial adobe dwellings, even though needed 

 for defense against the always aggressive 

 Apache; but, humbled by defeat, con- 

 structed dome-shaped lodges of pliable 

 poles covered with thatch and mud, 

 and in such habitations have since dwelt. 

 The names applied to the Pima by the 

 Apache and some other tribes furnish evi- 

 dence that they formerly dwelt in adobe 

 houses. Early in the 19th century the 

 Pima were joined by the Maricopa, of 

 Yuman stock, who left their former 

 home at the mouth of the Gila and on the 

 Colorado owing to constant oppression by 

 the Yuma and Mohave. Although speak- 

 ing distinct languages the Maricopa and 

 Pima have since dwelt together in har- 

 mony. T^hey intermarry, and their gen- 

 eral habits and customs are identical. 



How much of the present religious be- 

 lief of the Pima is their own is not know^n, 

 though it is not improbable that the 

 teachings of Kino and other missionaries 

 in the 17th and 18th centuries influenced 

 more or less their primitive beliefs. They 

 are said to believe in the existence of a su- 

 preme being, known as the "Prophet of 

 the Earth, " and also in a malevolent deity. 

 They also believe that at death the soul 

 is taken into another world by an owl, 

 hence the hooting of that bird is regarded 

 as ominous of an approaching death. 

 Sickness, misfortune, and death are at- 

 tributed to sorcery, and, as among other 

 Indians, medicine-men are employed to 

 overcome the evil influence of the sorcer- 

 ers. Scarification and cauterization are 

 also practised in certain cases of bodily 

 ailment. 



Marriage among the Pima is entered 

 into without ceremony and is never con- 

 sidered binding. Husband and wife may 

 separate at pleasure, and either is at lib- 

 erty to marry again. Formerly, owing to 

 contact with Spaniards and Americans, 

 unchastity prevailed to an inordinate de- 

 gree among both sexes. Polygamy was 

 only a question of the husband's ability 

 to support more than one wife. The 

 women performed all the labor save the 

 hunting, plowing, and sowing; the hus- 

 ban<l traveled mounted, while the wife 

 laboriously followed afoot with her child 

 or with a heavily laden burden basket, 

 or kiho, which frequently contained the 

 wheat reaped by her own labor to be 

 traded by the husband, often for articles 

 for his personal use or adornment. 



The Pima have always been peaceable, 

 though when attacked, as in former times 

 they frequently were by the Apache and 

 others, they have shown themselves by 

 no means deficient in courage. Even 

 with a knowledge of firearms they have 



only in recent years discarded the bow 

 and arrow, with which they were expert. 

 Arrowpoints of glass, stone, or iron were 

 sometimes employed in warfare. War 

 clubs of mesquite wood also formed an 

 important implement of war; and for de- 

 fensive purposes an almost impenetrable 

 shield of rawhide was used. The Pima 

 took no scalps. They considered their 

 enemies, particularly the Apach^e^ -pos- 

 sessed of evil spirits and did not touch 

 them after death. Apache men were 

 never taken cai)tive; but women, girls, and 

 young boys of that trilje were sometimes 

 made prisoners, while on other occasions 

 all the inhabitants of a besieged Apache 

 camp were killed. Prisoners were rarely 

 cruelly treated; on the contrary they 

 shared the food and clothing of their 

 captors, usually acquired the Pima lan- 

 guage, and have been known to marry 

 into the tribe. 



Agriculture by the aid of irrigation has 

 been practised by the Pima from prehis- 

 toric times. Each community owned 

 an irrigation canal, often several miles in 

 length, the waters of the rivers being 

 diverted into them by means of rude 

 dams; but in recent years they have suf- 

 fered much from lack of water owing to 

 the rapid settlement of the country by 

 white people. Until the introduction of 

 appliances of civilization they planted 

 with a dibble, and later plowed their 

 fields with crooked sticks drawn by oxen. 

 Grain is threshed by the stamping of 

 horses and is winnowed by the women, 

 who skilfully toss it from flat baskets. 

 Wheat is now their staple crop, and 

 during favorable seasons large quan- 

 tities are sold to the whites. They also 

 cultivate corn, barley, beans, pumpkins, 

 squashes, melons, onions, and a small 

 supply of inferior short cotton. One of 

 the principal food products of their 

 country is the bean of the mesquite, large 

 quantities of which are gathered annually 

 by the women, pounded in mortars or 

 ground on metates, and preserved for 

 winter use. The fruit of the saguaro 

 cactus {Cereus giganteus) is also gathered 

 by the women and made into a sirup; 

 from this an intoxicating beverage was 

 formerly brewed. As among most In- 

 dians, tobacco was looked upon by the 

 Pima rather as a sacred plant than one 

 to be used for pleasure. Formerly 

 they raised large herds of cattle in the 

 grassy valleys of the upper Gila. The 

 women are expert makers of water- 

 tight baskets of various shapes and sizes, 

 decorated in geometric designs. They 

 also manufacture coarse pottery, some of 

 which, however, is well decorated. Since 

 contact with the whites their native arts 

 have deteriorated. 



The Pima are governed by a head 

 chief, and a chief for each village. These 



