1016 



ZUNI 



[b. a. e. 



family, residing in a single permanent 

 pueblo known by the same name, on the 

 N. bank of upper Zufii r., Valencia co., 

 N. Mex. (for illustration see Pueblos), 

 and, in siunmer, the three neighboring 

 farming villages of Pescado, Nutria, and 

 Ojo Caliente. Their tribal name is 

 A^shiwi (sing. Shi^ui), 'the flesh.' The 

 name of their tribal range is Shi'wona, 

 or Shi^winakwin, which Gushing renders 

 'the land that produces flesh.' Their 

 common name, Zufii, is a Spanish adap- 

 tation of the Keresan Simyitsi, or Sn^nyitsa, 

 of unknown meaning. It has no con- 

 nection with "i:)eopleof long finger-nails," 

 as has been erroneously said. 



According to Gushing, the Zuni are de- 

 scended from two parental stocks, one of 



a companion of Alvar Nmlez Cabeza de 

 Vaca on his famous journey from the 

 Gulf of Mexico across Texas and into 

 Mexico), to explore the unknown region 

 to the N. w. Sending the negro and some 

 Indian guides ahead to prepare the tribes 

 for his coming and to report on the pros- 

 pects of the country, the friar pursued 

 his way through Sonora and into the 

 present Arizona, where he received word 

 from some of the Indians who had accom- 

 panied Estevanico that the negro and 

 some of their own peoi)le had been killed 

 by the natives of Gibola. After placat- 

 ing his Indian followers, who threatened 

 his life. Fray Marcos again pressed on, 

 viewing the first of the Gibola villages 

 from an adjacent height. He then startetl 



ACROSS THE HOUSE-TOPS OF ZUNI— TAAIYALONE IN THE DISTANCE 



which came originally from the n., the 

 other from the w. or s. w., fi'om the coun- 

 try of the lower Rio Golorado. The lat- 

 ter, who resembled the Yuman and Piman 

 tribes in mode of life, joined the others 

 after their settlement in the Zufii valley. 

 To this nucleus there were man y accretions 

 from other tribes and stocks, as well as 

 many desertions from it, in both prehis- 

 toric and historic times. 



Although indefinite knowledge of an 

 Indian province containing seven cities 

 in the far n. existed in Mexico soon after 

 the conquest, the first real information 

 regarding the Zufii tribe and their 7 

 pueblos was gained by Fray ]\Iarcos of 

 Niza, who in 1539 set out, with a Barbary 

 negro named Estevanico (who had been 



on his return to Mexico, where he made 

 a report of his discoveries, representing 

 the "Kingdom of Cibola," from what 

 he had heard from the Indians along 

 the route, as a rich and populous prov- 

 ince containing 7 cities, of which Abacus 

 (Hawikuh) was the principal one. His 

 glowing accounts led to the fitting out 

 of an expedition the next year, 1540, 

 under Francisco Vasquez Coronado, the 

 advance guard of which, after crossing 

 the arid region to the s., met the first 

 party of the Zufii near the moutli of the 

 river of the same name. The first meet- 

 ing was friendly, but a collision soon 

 occurred, and after a sharp skirmish the 

 Indians retreated to their \nllages. Con- 

 tinuing their advance, the Spaniards ap- 



