Illustrated Catalogue of the Collections Obtained from the Indians of New Mexico and Arizona in 187 | Page 9

is
shown by the cuts and plates, that triangles with an elongate acuminate
apex and the zigzag are very common in the black-brown decorations.
The checkered figure also is not uncommon. The animals most
frequently represented are the elk or deer and birds. The floral
decorations are chiefly vines well drawn, and rude attempts at
representing trees, and the flowers of various species of Helianthus.

5. Red ware with color decorations. This ware is represented by but
few vessels, which are in every respect similar to the best variety of the
red pottery heretofore mentioned, except that it is marked with figures
in black, many of which are decorated only on the upper portions
around the neck or rim.
6. The ancient pottery, of which Figs. 680 (40816) and 693 (40817) are
good examples.
The Pueblo tribes of New Mexico and Arizona, with rare exceptions,
manufacture earthenware vessels for domestic use. The Pueblo of Taos
may be mentioned as one of these exceptions; although the manner of
living, the general habits, and characteristics of the tribe are similar to
those of the other Pueblo Indians, and although they make use of
pottery for domestic purposes, they do not manufacture it. Some pieces,
such as water jars and vessels used for cooking, are made in the village,
but this occurs only in such families as have intermarried with other
tribes where the manufacture of the native ware is carried on.
The Pueblos among whom the manufacture of pottery or earthenware
utensils may be classed as a conspicuous feature of their peculiar
civilization at the present time, are situated geographically as follows:
San Juan, Santa Clara, San Ildefonso, Cochiti, Santo Domingo, San
Felipe, Sandia, and Isleta, located on the Rio Grande; Pojake, Tesuke,
Nambe, Jamez, Zia or Silla, Santa Ana, Laguna, and Acoma, situated
on the tributaries of the Rio Grande; Zuñi, and some small pueblos of
the same tribe all within the borders of New Mexico. Zuñi however is
located on the Rio Zuñi, which flows into the Little Colorado River.
The Moki pueblos, numbering seven in all, are embraced in what is
called the Province of Tusyan, and are located within the Territory of
Arizona, near its northeastern corner.
The Zuñians and Shinumos, although situated farther from civilized
people and less influenced by their usages than any of the other Indians
mentioned, surpass all the other tribes in the manufacture of all kinds of
earthenware. The collections made from these tribes, as will be seen by
reference to the catalogue, exceed, both in number and variety, those

from all the others combined. The collection as enumerated in the
catalogue includes specimens from all the pueblos referred to.
Although the uses of these articles are to a great extent the same among
all the Pueblo tribes, and the shapes and forms are apparently similar,
yet to the experienced eye there is no difficulty in detecting the
peculiarities which distinguish one from the other, or at least in
assigning them to the tribes with which they originated.
It will be observed by reference both to the colored and wood-cut
illustrations that there are special distinctions between the
ornamentation of the pottery of the pueblos of the Rio Grande Valley
and of those situated on the tributaries of the Rio Colorado. In the
decorations of the former the birds and vine are conspicuous and
constantly recurring features, while in the Zuñi and Shinumo pottery
the elk, domestic animals, and birds peculiar to these arid regions are
the figures most frequently used. The difference is easily accounted for
when we are informed of the fact that the former tribes reside in the
valley of the Rio Grande, which is well adapted to the culture of the
grape as well as other crops. The ever-present vine and the numerous
birds which flock to this fertile valley will naturally suggest figures for
decoration. On the other hand, the Zuñians and Shinumos reside in
regions almost destitute of water, and hence without any attractive
vegetation; therefore their designs are drawn chiefly from the sharp
outlines of their dwellings, their domestic animals, birds, and the elk
and antelope that graze in the little grassy oases. None of these are
actually drawn from nature, but from imagination and memory, as they
never have an object before them in molding or painting.
In none of the cases referred to do we observe any attempts to imitate
the exact forms or ceramic designs of the so-called ancient pottery,
fragments and sometimes entire vessels of which are found throughout
this southwestern region. This seems strange from the fact that in the
use of stone implements we find but few which are the result of their
own handiwork. The old ruins are searched, and from them, and the
debris about them, stone pestles, mortars, hammers,