BULL. 30] 



SPAPAK SPATLUM 



623 



1893) have shown, the charges against the 

 Spaniards of enslaving the Indians in the 

 mines have not been sustained, such serv- 

 itude being contrary to the letter and the 

 spirit of the law. Moreover, captives and 

 slaves were often redeemed from the 

 wilder tribes, as the villages of Genizaros 

 established before 1648 at Abiquiu and 

 afterward at Tome and Belen on the Rio 

 Grande prove. The Protectores de los 

 Indios, at first the prelates of the country, 

 performed somewhat the same functions 

 as our Indian agents. The system of 

 pueblo grants had its advantages for the 

 Indians, and many of the Spanish enact- 

 ments ' ' enlarged their scope of vision and 

 fostered the thought of individuality." 

 The industrial training of the Franciscans 

 began early, and tliough to-day some of 

 the Pueblos have the tools and appliances 

 of medieval Spain — the old plow, the two- 

 wheeled cart, the clumsy iron ax, and the 

 crude saw — even these constituted a con- 

 siderable advance over primitive imple- 

 ments — the digging stick, fire-drill, etc., 

 while the addition of numerous domes- 

 ticated animals and plants made possible 

 progress in various ways. Bandelier is of 

 the opinion that "in many respects the 

 Apache, Comanche, the Navaho above 

 all, owe more to European culture intro- 

 duced by Spain than the Pueblos." The 

 introduction of the horse made speedy 

 travel possible and the acquisition of fire- 

 arms enabled some of these Indians to 

 compete on fairly even terms with the 

 whites. As a result of white contact the 

 Indians of the New Mexico pueblos aban- 

 doned for a time the making of blankets, 

 an art learned from them by the Navaho, 

 who attained great skill in it, and paid less 

 attention to the elaboration of their pot- 

 tery. These facts, as Bandelier observes, 

 may be evidences, not of decadence, but 

 of progress. Of the general intent and 

 effect of Spanish laws relating to the In- 

 dian, Bandelier, it may be observed, takes 

 the same sympathetic view as do Lummis 

 and Bourke. 



While the Pueblos of New Mexico had 

 their missions, and the fathers often ac- 

 quitted themselves heroically in their 

 hard labors, California was the scene of 

 the exploitation of the mission idea on a 

 scale impossible where the Indians them- 

 selves were of the character and social 

 condition exemplified among the Pueblos. 

 The first Spanish colony in California 

 proper was established at San Diego in 

 1769 as a result of the expedition of Gal- 

 vez. By 1834 there were 21 missions, ex- 

 tending in an irregular line for more than 

 600 m. along the coast, linking together 

 the most fertile valleys of California. Con- 

 nected with these missions were 30,650 

 Indians; the cattle numbered 424,000; 

 the bushels of grain harvested, 100,000; 



the value of the product, $2,000,000; the 

 movable stock, apart from buildings, or- 

 chards, vineyards, etc., $3,000,000; annual 

 income of the pious fund, $50,000. Eight 

 years later only 4,450 Indians remained 

 and other things had declined in propor- 

 tion. Secularization of the missions by 

 the Mexican Government was in part re- 

 sponsible for this, though previous indi- 

 vidual and temporary abuses and vacilla- 

 tion in policy, as for example the changes 

 from one religious order to another or 

 transfer of the missions to the care of 

 secular ecclesiastics or of political officers, 

 were often detrimental. By the time of 

 the American occupancy in 1846 the de- 

 cline was complete; "a small number of 

 the natives were still living at the mis- 

 sions, but the majority had returned 

 to their rancherias in the mountains and 

 districts remote from the settlements." 

 Since then some of the missions have 

 crumbled to dust and many of the Indian 

 tribes have vanished with them or linger 

 only in insignificant numbers, but the 

 buildings and other remains evidence the 

 extent of this remarkable, though in the 

 end unsuccessful, attempt to make over 

 thousands of the aborigines of the New 

 World. The influence of Spain can be 

 seen among them still, but they were too 

 much domesticated, and the change from 

 the friar and the priest to the Anglo- 

 Saxon pioneer, the cowboy, and the 

 miner proved too masterful for them. 

 What the Spaniards accomplished in 

 California in the brief sj^ace of 50 years 

 was a marvel, but an evanescent one. 

 The results of Indian labor can be seen 

 over all California, but the sons and 

 daughters of the workers are no more. 

 The story of the Spanish missions of Cali- 

 fornia, New Mexico, and Texas will ever 

 be one of the most interesting in the 

 annals of American history. See Cali- 

 fornia Indians, Mission Indians, 3fissions, 

 Pueblos. (a. f. c. ) 



Spapak (Spapa^k'). A Squawmish vil- 

 lage community on the right bank of 

 Squawmisht r., Brit. Col. — Hill-Tout in 

 Rep. Brit. A. A. S., 474, 1900. 



Spapium(t'?/>o;)I''KW, 'level grassy land' ). 

 A Ntlakyapamuk village on a river bench 

 opposite Lytton, Brit. Col.; pop. 84 in 

 1901. 



Spa-ki-um.— Can. Ind. Aff., 196, 1885 (misprint). 

 Spapiam.— Ibid., 312, 1892. Spapi'um.— Hill-Tout 

 in Kep. Ethnol. Siirv. Can., 5, 1889. _ 



Spatlum. A name which, with variants 

 spaiulum, spatlam, and sptvtlum, has long 

 been applied to the "bitter-root," Lew- 

 isia rediriva, a succulent perennial of 

 upper Oregon, the root of which is highly 

 prized by the Indians as an article of 

 food. As the root is very small, it re- 

 quires much labor to gather a bagful, 

 which commands the price of a horse. 

 The plant was observed in use among the 



