The Apache - Yumas and 
Apache - Mojaves. 
WM. H. CORBUSIER, M. D, U. S. A. Reprint from American Antiquarian, September, 1886. 
THE APACHE-YUMAS AND APACHE-MOJAVES. 
The Apache-Yumas, Tulkepaias, or Natchons, belong to the 
Yuma, or Katchan family of Indians. The name Apache-Yu- 
ma was given to them by the whites, but they are known to 
the Indians of the Yuma family as Tulkepaia, or in full, Tulke- 
paia (sparrow ?) venuna (belly) tchehwale (spotted), and to those 
of the Tennai family-the so-called Apaches-as Natchon (liz- 
ards).* They have quite recently sprung from the Yumas, or 
Katchans, the Apache-Mojaves, or Yavapais, and Mojaves, or 
Mokhabas.f 
Their country is in Arizona, north of the Gila river, between 
the Verde and the Colorado. They were hostile to the wdiites 
until 1873, in the spring of which j ear they were collected to 
the number of about five hundred and taken to the Rio-Verde 
reservation, which embraced a tract of country beginning near 
Fort Verde and extending forty miles up the river, and ten 
miles on each side of it. They had been fed by the govern- 
fnent at Camp Date-Creek, Ariz., for several years before their 
removal to the Verde, but marauding parties frequently stole 
away, to plunder and kill settlers and travelers, and it was only 
after they had been severely punished by the troops many times 
that they ceased their depredations.) 
The Apache-Mojaves, Yavapaias, or Kohenins, also belong 
to the Yuma family.^ The whites call them Apache-Mojaves, 
but the Indian related to them call them Yavape, Yavapaia, or 
Nyavapai, and the Tennai call them Kohenin. They claim as 
their country the whole of the valley of the Verde river and the 
Black Mesa, as far north as Bill William's mountain. Of their 
origin or migrations they are unable to give any account, as 
traditions are almost unknown among them, as well as among 
the Apache-Yumas,owing probably to their great reluctance to 
speak of the dead. They were comparatively recent comers 
into the Verde valley, for according to the traditions of the 
Moquis the ancestors of the latter inhabited it for a long time, 
and were the builders of the stone structures, the ruins of which 
are to be seen on the edges of the mesas and in the cliffs all 
along the river. The Moquis deserted the valley "five old men 
ago"-the words of an old Moqui man from the pueblo of 
*The nanie Apache is the plural form of pi or apa, a Katchan word, and signifies "the men," 
i. e. Indians. It is commonly applied to the Indians of the l*nnai family, but should be used to 
designate the Katchan family. 
tThe name M.haba, of which Mojave is a corruption, means "three mountains," It is derived 
from the words namok (three) and habi hemi (big rock or mountain.) 
tThe following named tribes are also members of this family: Diegue'no, Cocapa, Yuma, Mojave, 
Hualpai, Maricopa,Y^va-Supai, and Apache Tonto, the latter a mixture of Yuma andTennai. 2 
THE APACHE-YUMAS AND APACHE-MOJAVES. 
Wolpi-because of a long drought accompanied by a fatal epi- 
demic.* Very little was known about the Apache-Mojaves be- 
fore the year 1872, as they had rarely visited Fort Verde or 
come in contact with the whites, but in that year after Brevet 
Major General Geo. Crook, U. S. Army assumed command of 
the Department of Arizona, many of them were induced to visit 
the post to obtain rations. On the first ration day only about 
ninety appeared, but on the second, they came in crowds from 
every direction, and upward of seven hundred were present. 
They continued to engage in hostilities however until 1373, by 
which time they were whipped into submission. In the spring 
of that year about one thousand of them were placed on the 
Rio-Verde Reservation, and the remainder sent to the San-Car- 
los Agency. 
About five hundred of the so-called Apache-Tontos-Indians 
from Tonto Basin and the Pinal mountains-were taken to the 
Rio-Verde Reservation the same spring. They are of mixed 
blood, having descended from both the Katchan and Tennai 
Indians. Many of the men are Yavapai's who have taken 
Apache women for wives-probably stolen them-from among 
the Pinal and other Apaches south of the Salt River. They 
speak a mongrel tongue which is a mixture of Katchan and 
Tennai, and are for this reason called Ahwa-paia-kwauwa 
(enemy, all, and speak). 
The A-Yumas and A-Mojaves were never on good terms 
with the A-Tontos before they were placed on the Reservation, 
and the presence of troops at the Agency did not always prevent 
them from coming to blows afterward, when they met on ration 
and count days. During the first summer on.the Reservation, 
they all experienced much sickness, more especially those bands 
who were last to surrender. They were exhausted from fatigue, 
sickness, and lack of proper food; the troops having harassed 
them to such a degree that they had but little time to search 
for food, and were compelled to subsist almost exclusively on tunas, 
or prickly pears, and half-cooked mescal, or American aloe, 
which produced dysentery, and consequently were not in con- 
dition to resist the malaria, which is so active in the river 
bottom of the Verde, While still suffering with malarial fevers 
and dysentery, they were seized with the epizootic, at that time 
epidemic among the horses. In the month of September, so many 
were prostrated with this combination of diseases, and deaths 
were so frequent, that many of the dead remained unburned, on 
account of the inability of the relative to carry the wood neces- 
sary for a funeral pyre. On removal to higher ground the sick 
rate declined, and the next year they maintained a good state of 
* As a lifetime, or seventy years, is meant by the expression "one old man," it is three hundred 
and fifty years, or if the age of my informant be included, as it probably should, about four hun- 
dred years since the Moquis quited the valley. THE APACHE-YUMAS AND APACHE-MOJAVES. 
3 
health.* It was a very difficult matter for some time to keep 
them on the Reservation ; and it became necessary to adopt a 
system of checking and counting the men, in order that the 
absence of any of them might readily be discovered, and troops 
promptly sent in pursuit of them. After many had been captured 
and punished by imprisonment for a month or longer, very few 
attempted to leave without permission. A better state of health, 
and success in farming, together with a firm but just rule, at 
length reconciled the majority to what, at first, was a i irksome 
life to them. 
In 1874 they constructed a dam in the Vefde River, dug 
a long ditch for irrigating purposes, and that summer raised a 
fair crop of corn, potatoes, melons, and pumpkins under the 
supervision of army officers. Their success delighted them, 
and made them eager the next year to plant a larger piece ot 
ground. But in the spring (1875), while they were begging for 
farming imolements and seeds, a special commissioner arrived 
from Washington with orders to remove them to the San Carlos 
Agency. They protested strongly against the removal, and 
told the Commissioner that they had been brought to the reser- 
vation against their will, but, as it was a portion of their coun- 
try, which the government had pronised should belong to them 
and their children forever, they now wished to remain, and did 
not wish to go to a strange country, and among strange peo- 
ple. They had been so successful too on their farm last year, 
that they were certain of doing well in the future. They wished 
seeds, farming implements, cattle, school teachers, and every- 
thing that would enable them to live like the whites. Their pro- 
tests however were not considered, as the policy of the Indian De- 
partment required their removal, and they were forced to go. 
While on the Rio-Verde reservation forty of them were con- 
stantly serving as police and scouts, and in 1874, when the San 
Carlos Indians left their reservation, about one hundred and 
fifty volunteered to assist in driving them back. From these 
one hundred and twenty-two were selected and enlisted as scouts, 
fifty-nine of whom were A-Yumas, forty-one A-Mojaves and 
twenty-two A-Tontos. They were in the field three months 
and did excellent service. 
The A-Mojaves and A-Yumas have a dialect in common, 
although each tribe uses a few words peculiar to itself. It 
differs somewhat from those of the Yumas, Mojaves, and Huai- 
pais, but not so much as an examination of the published vocab- 
ularies would lead one to suppose. 
Thf* A-Mojave men are of tall stature, erect, muscular, and 
well proportioned. The average height of twenty-four of them, 
in their bare feet, was found to be feet 8t4 inches, and the 
*The Agency was located about sixteen miles north of Fort Verde, on the east bank of the river, 
until June, 1874, when it was removed about two miles and a half west to higher ground at the foot 
of the mountains. 4 
THE APACHE-YUxMAS AND APACHE-MOJAVES. 
average weight, 157% pounds. The A-Yuma men are a little 
taller and more angular. The average height of twenty-two of 
them was found to be 5 feet 8 1-5 inches, and the weight 
152 15-16 pounds. These figures are probably rather under than 
over the average for the adult men of the tribes, as those measured 
and weighed were not selected, but were taken as they came up 
to receive their rations at the Agency, and some of them were 
not over twenty years of age, and had not yet attained their 
maximum height and weight. The A-Mojave women are taller 
and have handsomer faces than the A-Yumas. The latter are, 
with few exceptions, short and gross, measuring in height about 
5 feet 3 inches, and weighing about 140 pounds. 
Their skin varies in color according to the season, from a dark 
mahogany in summer, to a light mahogany or cafe-au-lait in 
winter. Their hair is evenly distributed over the head, and is 
coarse, black, and straight. It is worn very long behind, and is 
cut in front on a line with the eyebrows, or in summer even a 
little lower, to shade their eyes from the glare and reflection of 
the sun. The women wear the back hair reaching just to the 
shoulders, and always flowing, but the men permit it to grow 
long, never cutting it except when mourning the dead, 
and tie it up with a Navajo garter, or a piece of red flannel in 
which they carry a slender stick or bone about e'ght inches 
long, which serves them as a comb. The scalp-lock is never 
seen, unless the small lock of hair to which a feather ornament 
is tied can be considered as such. Some of the A-Yuma men 
wear long rolls of matted hair behind, which are the thickness of 
a finger, and two feet or more in length, and composed of old 
hair mixed with that growing on the head, or are in the form of 
a wig, made of hair that has been cut off when mourning the 
dead, to be worn on occasions of ceremony. The hair almost 
always harbors some lice, and the one-toothed comb is frequently 
brought into requisition to scratch with, but sometimes the head 
becomes so infested, that they are obliged to resort to some more 
expeditious method of getting rid of them than the common one. 
They then roll the hair around the top of the head, and fill it 
with black mud, which they ^llow to remain twelve hours or so, 
and then wash it out, together with the vermin which have been 
effectually smothered. In summer they wash their heads fre- 
quently with a shampoo made by wringing the juice from six or 
eight leaves of the Spanish bayonet (yucca baccata), into a gal- 
lon of tepid water, first holding them over a fire fora few minutes 
to wilt them. It makes the hair soft and glossy, and, they say, 
promotes its growth. A few coarse straggling hairs appear on 
the chins and upper lips of the men, but these are diligently 
plucked out by the roots with tweezers, and a beard is never 
allowed to grow. 
Feathers are the favorite head ornaments of the men, who are THE APACHE-YUMAS AND APACHE-MOJAVES. 
5 
rarely seen without one or two secured to a lock of hair at the 
crown ol the head. Each one is fastened by means of a string 
two inches in length, so that it will flutter on the least motion of 
the wearer. Ouill-feathers from the hawk or eagle, down, white 
or tinted red, a large bunch taken 
from the back of the wild turkey, and 
the skin of the California canary arc 
those usually worn. The women 
never wear feathers. 
Their foreheads recede from promi- 
nent brows, and arc low and narrow. 
Their eyes are far apart, and almost 
hidden by heavy lids, the edges of 
which the women often paint black, to 
give the eyes a bright look. The con- 
junctive is of a yellowish, tint, and 
the iris is a dark mahogany color. 
Some of them have Roman noses, 
but the majority have broad flat ones with conspicuous 
nostrils Some of the men pierce the septum, and hang from it 
a large bead, or a string of small ones. Their ears are small, 
and, when not disfigured by cuts, shapely. Many of the men 
have notches along the pinna, and all have a short slit in 
die lobe of each car, made soon after birth by means of a piece 
of wood hardened in the fire and sharpened. Strings of small 
beads, five or six inches long, with mother-of-pearl or stone 
pendants, are worn by both sexes. They have large mouths 
with rather long thick lips. 1'heir teeth are small, closely set, 
and, in the adult, yellow and frequently decayed, but always free 
from tartar. In the old they are usually worn down to mere 
stumps, from constant use in holding hides to dress them, or in 
softening them when making clothing or shoes. Their chins are 
short and recede slightly. Their hands and feet are small, and 
remarkably well-formed, their insteps are finely arched. 
Tattooing is practiced by the women, but rarely by the men. 
The married women are distinguished by seven narrow blue lines 
running from the lower lip down the chin, the outer ones 
starting from the corners of the mouth and frequently having a 
row of arrow-shaped points directed outward; or two zigzag lines 
run from each corner of the mouth, and the three between them 
are straight. A young woman when anxious to become a mother, 
tattoos the figure of a child on her forearm for good luck. A 
few women have two or three straight lines running a little over 
half-way around the forearm. Charcoal prepared for the purpose 
is the only coloring substance usedin making these figures. It is 
pricked into the skin with a bunch of cactus thorns, sharp bits 
of quartz or needles. 
Paint is freely used at all times by both sexes, for comfort as 
A Tattooed Apache Woman 6 
THE APACHE-YUMAS AND APACHE-MOJAVES. 
well as ornament. It serves them as clothing, keeping them 
warm in winter and protecting them from the heat of the sun in 
summer, they say. Red is the favorite color, and is commonly 
obtained from red clay which they dry, reduce to a powder, incor- 
porate with saliva, make into small cakes, and dry. Afterward 
they bore a hole in each cake 
for a string, by means of which 
they carry it tied to the girdle 
ready for use. When they wish 
to apply it they mix it by rub- 
bing the edge of the cake in 
some saliva in the hand. They 
generally smear it ever the 
whole person, and scrape 
straight and waived lines, or 
other designs in it with the 
tips of the fingers. They are 
then literally "red men." Ga- 
lena and burnt mescal are 
used on their faces, the form- 
er to denote anger, or as war 
paint, being spread all over the 
face, or over all except the chin 
and nose, whkh are painted 
red. The burnt mescal is usu- 
ally smeared on, and waved 
lines are made through it 
from the nose to the ears, or 
it is daubed on in spots all 
over the face, or two parallel 
lineo are drawn across the 
cheeks on each side of a row 
of dots. 
The ordinary costume of 
the men in summer is a very 
simple one, consisting of a 
pair of moccasins and a 
breech-clout. The latter is a 
strip of calico, about two 
yards long, passed between 
the legs and hung over the belt in front and behind, the hind end 
reaching nearly, if not quite, to the ground; or a strip of buck 
skin, the hind end of which, when the hair of the animal is allowed 
to remain on, so closely resembles the tail of an animal, that in 
early days the report was current th t the Apaches had tails. In 
winter, the skin of some animal dressed with the hair on, or a 
Navajo blanket is wrapped around the shoulders, and long buck 
skin leggings are sometimes put on. Occasionally they wear a 
TATTOO MARKS ON CHIN OF MARRIED WOMEN THE APACHE-YUMAS AND APACHE-MOJAVES. 
7 
jacket, which is made by doubling a deerskin crosswise, cutting 
a slit at the fold through which to pass the head, and tying the 
sides together, leaving spaces for the arms. The women wear two 
buckskins hung over a belt, one in front and one behind, in the 
form of a kilt, and in cold weather, a third one suspended from 
the neck by strings, and bound at the waist by the belt to protect 
the chest. The edges of the skins arc cut in deep fringe, on 
which numerous cartridge shells, little rolls of tin, etc., are often 
hung to produce a jingling sound, and a few straight and waved 
lines are painted above the fringe. Rabbit's bones, with chevrons 
or arrow points cut on them, are strung on the suspenders which 
hold up the chest covering. The kilts of a few of the A-Yuma 
women in summer are composed of strips of bark hung over a 
belt. The women wear the same kind of moccasins as the men. 
The A-Mojave moccasins reach nearly to the knee, and each one 
is made of half a buckskin turned over in three folds to protect 
the legs, and secured to the ankle by means of a string. The 
soles are made of undressed cowhide with the hairy side out and 
cut in the natural form of the foot. The legs of the A-Yuma 
moccasins are shorter, and not folded, and the soles are made of 
thick dressed buckskin, which is brought up over the foot, then 
gathered and fastened to the uppers. Each person usually does 
his own sewing, and the implements used are a steel knife, and an 
awl made of a steel fork by breaking off all the tines except one. 
Some of them still use their primitive implements, a sharpened 
bone for an awl, and a small flake of sharp quartz for a knife. 
Sinew from the deer is their thread. The men dress all of the 
skins. They soak the green hide in water to loosen the hair, 
then throw it over a smooth, round stick, which they incline 
against a tree or rock, and scrape the hair off with the scapula of 
the deer, or, lacking this, some other suitable bone. They then 
spread it out on a bush to dry, and afterward roll it up, perhaps 
to carry it about with them for some time. When they wish to 
make use of it, they soak it again, and after thoroughly wringing 
out the water, sit in the sun and pull it until dry and soft. 
Moccasins and buckskin clothing have to be redressed after every 
wetting, otherwise they become hard and shrunken. 
Beads, which also serve them as currency, are the commonest 
ornaments. Frequently as many as four pounds of small ones 
may be seen wound around the neck of one person. A couple of 
strands are suspended from the slit in the lobe of the ears, and 
the women tie a few around their wrists. The small white china 
ones are those usually preferred. Very little bead-work was 
attempted before 1874, and the designs were of the simplest kind, 
being limited to straight, curved and zigzag lines. A fringed and 
painted buckskin pocket is suspended from the bead necklace 
to hold a small round looking-glass which is a very important 
article of a young Indian's wardrobe, as much of his time is 8 
THE APACHE-YUMAS AND APAC'HE-MOJAVES 
devoted to decorating himself in order to gain the admiration 
of the women. Before the introduction of the looking-glass, he 
had to content himself with a look in a pool or vessel of water. 
The men wear a bracelet from two to four inches wide, around 
the left forearm, to protect it from the recoil of the bow string. 
It is made of heavy otter or deer skin, and is ornamented with 
paint, beads or brass buttons. Those who have muzzle-loading 
guns wear one made of leather, in which little tongues are cut to 
hold percussion caps. 
They live in circular brush huts u-wah, about five feet high, 
and from six to eight feet in diameter. To make one, a hollow 
space is excavated with sharp sticks and their hands, and the 
earth is banked up around the circumference, until they have a 
bowl-shaped depression about a foot and a half deep. Around 
the edge of this, bushes or branches of trees are stuck, bent over 
and fastened together to form a round top. In winter it is 
thatched with grass, tule, or soap weed so that it will shed rain. 
An opening is left on one side, which serves as an outlet for 
smoke, as well as a doorway. The fire is made just inside the 
opening. For a bed they break up the ground, let it dry, pick 
out the stones, and then spread down dry grass. Seeds, meat, 
buckskins, extra clothing, etc., are hung outside on upright 
poles. Formerly only a few huts were usua"y found together, 
and they were occupied by members of one family, as these people 
had to scatter over the country in small parties, and move 
frequently, in order to obtain a sufficient supply of food ; but in 
seasons of plenty, villages of about one hundred souls would be 
formed, when the huts of each family were always built in a 
group by themselves. 
A very small fire suffices them, and they never waste wood by 
building large ones, even in winter, or when wood is very 
abundant. When cold, one warms himself by squatting down 
and wrapping his blanket around him and the fire To kindle a 
fire, they resorted to the fire drill before the introduction of the 
flint and steel, and matches, but usually preserved coals in the 
ashes to avoid the labor of drilling. O-t>h' me-tc-kwa-te. "Make 
the fire blaze" is the common expression still used, even when 
the fire is to be kindled by means of a match. A slow torch 
made of dry dead-wood was carried in traveling. It enabled 
them to make fire or smoke signals, by means of which they 
could communicate with their friends at pleasure, as well as to 
kindle a fire at their next stopping place. For a drill, they use 
a piece of the stem of the o-oh kad-je or "fire-stick bush," about 
two feet long and half an inch thick. They dip one end in the 
sand, then pressing it in a shallow depression made in a piece of 
dry soft wood, such as the stalk of the yucca, which is laid on 
the ground and held by the foot, whirl it between the hands. In 
a few seconds the friction produces a small quantity of very fine THE APACHE-YUMAS AND APACHE-MO J AYES. 
9 
charcoal, which, when rolled out on some dry grass or bark-fibre, 
and given a light puff or two, bursts into a flame. 
Basket-ware and vessels of pottery are in common use. 
Their manufacture is confined to the women, who own all such 
property. Unglazed earthen vessels, of various sizes, for domes- 
tic purposes, such as pots, a-mat^to cook in, with a capacity 
of from two to three gallons, large shallow bowls to hold food, 
and water-jugs with globular bodies and narrow necks, a-mat 
h,a-t hi-wa, and so-zvah', the largest holding as much as four gal- 
lons, are made out of red clay. Some of them are decorated 
with one or two narrow horizontal 
bands and zigzag lines painted in 
darker or lighter colored clay. 
They all have convex bottoms, 
and arc thin and very brittle. 
None of them have feet, but those 
used for cooking purposes are 
supported over the fire on three 
stones, o-kuth-ku-nu. The moulding 
is done entirely by hand in the lap or on the ground, yet the vessels 
are quite symmetrical in shape. The clay of which they are formed 
is dried, ground on a metate, and then worked into a dough with 
saliva, and water which has been rendered mucilaginous by boil- 
ing cactus in it. The bottom of the vessel is formed of a lump 
of the dough, which is pressed into shape with the hands, and 
the rest is built up of rolls, each one of which adds about one 
inch to its height, and is allowed to d*-y a little before another 
is added. One hand on the inside and the other on the outside 
press and smooth the clay to give the vessel its proper contour 
and thickness. Saliva is used freely on the hands to facilitate 
the work. After a vessel is completely formed, it is thoroughly 
dried in the sun or near a fire, and then burnt by itself in an 
open fire. Strong, light, globular jugs, to carry water in, are 
made by covering loosely woven basketwork with pitch or red 
clay. These have two small loops or handles on the largest 
part of the body, for the attachment of a string or band, by 
which the jug is carried on the back suspended from the head. 
They vary in size from mere toys to those having a capacity of 
four gallons, and every woman, and every girl down to the age 
of three or four years, possesses one or more of them. They 
are one of the most important articles of their manufacture, as 
during certain seasons of the year water is very scarce in their 
country, and often has to be carried long distances. The strength 
and lightness of the jugs recommend them to other Indians, who 
frequently procure them in trade. 
Apache Basket. THE APACHE-YUMAS AND APACHE-MOJAVES. 
SECOND PAPER. 
Basket-making consumes a great deal of the time of the women. 
Besides the baskets for their own use, they manufacture some 
for trade, as there is always a demand for them among other 
tribes, and of late they find a ready sale for them among the 
whites. Two patterns, of various sizes, are made, cone-shaped 
ones, and those having the form of a bowl. The former are easily 
and quickly woven, and are usually ornamented with one or two 
red bands. The largest hold about two bushels, and the smallest, 
which are for little girls, who begin at an early age to carry 
burdens, about a quart. They are borne on the back, suspended 
like the water-jugs, from the head by means of a band, the apex 
resting on the belt of the kilt. They are used in harvesting seeds 
and to carry burdens of every description, as fire-wood, their 
household goods in moving camp, their children, the aged, and 
the sick and wounded. On the removal of the tribes in 1875 
from the Rio Verde to the San Carlos Agency, a distance of 
about one hundred and fifty miles, by a trail which led over rough 
mountains and across swollen streams, nearly all their effects, 
many of their children, the old, and the sick were carried in these 
baskets. They traveled on an average eight miles and a half a 
day. The men shared the labor with the women, and cne old 
man demonstrated that conjugal affection is fully as strong 
among the Indians as in civilized life, by carrying his decrepit 
wife the whole distance in a basket on his back. The round, 
shallow, bowl-shaped baskets are made water tight, and require 
patient and skilful labor to weave them. Various designs in 
black, as straight, broken, waved and zigzag lines, and steps or 
terraces woven into them with strips from the cat's claw-the inner 
part of the pod of a martynia, which, when dry, is black. Th6y 12 
TIIE APACHE-YUMAS AND APACHE-MOJAVES. 
also are made of various sizes, from small ones used as drinking 
cups, to those of sixteen or seventeen inches in diameter, which 
are used to parch seed in, mix their bread, etc. 
As to their food, they consume with a relish many things 
that a more fastidious palate would reject. They devour rats, 
coyotes, lizards and catterpiliars, and prefer mule and horse meat 
to beef, but will not eat wild turkeys and some other fowl, nor 
fish.* The women procure the vegetable, and the men the 
animal portion of the diet. 
In the fall the women har- 
vest the seeds of a variety 
of plants, and cache a por- 
tion for winter's use. The 
seeds of grasses and herb- 
aceous plants are gathered 
by shaking them into the 
conical baskets. A few of 
the A-Yumas formerly 
raised small patches of 
maize ti-ydteh, and laid by 
a little for winter. They 
parch the seeds by tossing 
them up with coals in a 
shallow basket for a time, 
then sprinkle them with 
water and grind them to 
meal, which when rolled 
into balls constitutes their 
bread ini-el-la. This when 
made of the seeds of the 
saguara or giant cactus 
,(Cereus'giganteus,Engelm.) 
Indian ah-a'h, is esteemed 
a delicacy. The ripe pods 
of the mezquit (Algarobia 
glandulosa, T. and G.) Indian n'a-la, are also ground and made 
into bread. To grind the seeds they make use of two stones, 
the metate /z^-^fand the rubbing stone ha-pe-cha' both of black 
lava usually. 1 he metate is flat, and about eighteen inches long 
and eight inches wide. It rests on the ground, inclined at a 
slight angle, and the woman sits with it between her outstretched 
legs. The rubbing stone is round, and about six inches long 
and three inches thick. The woman grasps it in both hands and 
gives it a rolling motion forward and back. The mescal, maguey 
or American aloe (Agave Americana), Ind. vi-el^ serves them as 
food the year round. It is found in perfection on the south sides 
of high hills and on high mesas that incline towards the south, 
Apache Runners. 
*A few A-\ limas who came from near the Colorado river ate fish caught in that river THE APACIIE-YUMAS AND APACIIE-MOJAVES. 
13 
in loose and stony soil. When a supply is required, the women 
go in charge of some of the men, or the whole party moves to the 
mescal fields, and sufficient is cut and baked to last several 
weeks. They select plants that are at least eighteen inches high 
and cut them close to the ground, then trim off the projecting ends 
of the leaves, so that each plant forms a large ball composed of 
the thick bases of the leaves, and the crown on which they are 
crowded. They then carry them in their baskets to a suitable 
spot in a ravine or canon where they dig a pit,' or if an old one 
be in the neighborhood, as is frequently the case, they resort to it. 
The earth taken out is banked up to deepen the pit, which varies 
in size from three to ten feet in diameter, and from two to four 
feet deep, according to the number in the party. A large fire is 
built in it, on which are thrown basketfuls of stones. When these 
are hot the mescal is piled on them in the form of a pyramid, 
and covered with grass and earth. It is allowed to remain 
undisturbed about forty-eight hours, the women watching the 
pit in order to repair occasional breaks in the covering. When 
the mescal is baked, the pit is opened, and each woman takes out 
her own, which she recognizes by her private mark. The plants 
in baking shrink and turn brown. The fibres, which are coarse 
in the leaves and fine in the crown, become tougher, but the 
fleshy part is converted into a sweet juicy pulp. Those which 
are not to be used soon are torn to pieces and spread on sticks 
in large cakes, which, when dry, are rolled up for convenience in 
carrying. When kept for some time they become hard and 
tough, and require soaking in water before they can be eaten. 
Mescal-water, made by dissolving the pulp in water, is a favorite 
beverage, and constitutes the exclusive diet of the sick. It 
frequently acts as a purge, and when dysentery or diarrhoea 
exists often aggravates the disease. If the plant is not well 
cooked* or if too young, it produces the same effect. The stalk, 
which the plant sends up at maturity to the height of fifteen feet 
or more in a few weeks, is when young, often broken off and 
eaten raw, or after it has been roasted in an open fire. The fruit 
of the opuntia, called prickly pear or tuna, Ind. Id-ba, is for 
several weeks after it ripens in September their principal diet, 
and sometimes in the absence of other food, is eaten in such large 
quantities as to cause bowel complaints. They are very fond of 
the fruit of the Spanish bayonet (Yucca baccata, Torr.) Mexican 
Palmia ancha or Amolc) Ind. ve-nat' commonly called "dates" by 
the whites, which ripens in October. It resembles the banana in 
shape and taste. Camas, the bulb of the wild hyacinth (Camassia 
esculenta, Lindl.) Ind. a-nya-ka; the seeds of the gourd or mock 
orange (Cucurbita perennis, Gray.) Mex. Chili cojotc and Cala- 
bazilla, Ind. a-ha-mah; acorns, Ind. i-hi-mi-a; walnuts, \\\A.jud-ka; 
pine nuts, Mex. pinons, Ind. il-koli, wild garlic, wild potatoes, the 
young stalk of the thistle, rose pips, currants and juniper berries 14 
TIIE APACHE-YUMAS AND APACHE-MOJAVES. 
are also eaten in their season. Tn the sprieg a white 
sugary substance called honey-dew is frequently found on the 
leaves and young stems of a species of willow quite common 
along Date creek. They break off the branches and stir them 
in water to dissolve the honey dew, and make a refreshing drink. 
No intoxicating beverage is made by them. The only word they 
have in their language to express drunkenness is wassibatomi, 
crazy. The customary drink in winter is hot water. They raise 
small patches of a species of tobacco, which is smoked mostly 
by the medicine-men, who always inhale the smoke. Before 
they went to the Verde Agency very few of the men were 
habitual smokers, and none of them chewed tobacco. 
Their meat was principally rats, ind-le-ke; hare, ku-le; and 
cotton-tail rabbits, ht-lo', which arc numerous and can easily be 
captured or killed. All the men and boys frequently engage in the 
sport of a rat hunt. They arm themselves with rat-sticks, which 
have a crook at one end, and go about among the rocks and 
bushes poking into the holes and hauling out the rats. Occasion- 
ally a rat gets out of his hole and essays to escape, when they all 
run yelling after the fugitive, flinging their sticks'or striking at him, 
and often tripping up and tumbling over one another. As fast as 
they kill them, they tuck them under their belts, and often at 
the close of the hunt each one has a belt full dangling about his 
waist. In hunting rabbits a line is formed and the bushes are 
beaten to drive them out, and they arc shot with bows and 
arrows, or canes or boomerangs are flung at them to break their 
legs. Before cooking the rabbits they skin and draw them, but 
roast the rats without doing either, simply making an incision 
in the abdomen. When they boil them they take off the skin 
but leave the entrails. Doves, ducks, geese and swan are rarely 
eaten, but their eggs are relished when boiled. 
Before they had firearms large game was not easily killed, but 
when the hunters were successful there was a feast. Some 
strategy has to be exercised to get within arrow-shot of deer, 
kwa'-ka; antelope, wzz-z/Zfand mountain sheep, mu-ub In hunting 
deer they use as a decoy a head covering or mask, mu-hu, made 
of the skin and antlers from a buck's head. The skin is dried in 
proper shape and the back of the antlers cut away to make them 
lighter. A hoop which fits the hunter's head keeps the neck in 
shape. The mask is put upon the head like a hat, and held by 
means of strings tied under the chin. A deer skin is thrown around 
the shoulders, and the man is enabled in this disguise to approach 
within bow-shot of a deer by bending forward and imitating the 
motions of one when grazing, or he shows himself above the 
brow of a hill, or from behind a rock. Antelope heads arc 
prepared and used in the same manner to hunt that animal. 
Sometimes the men form a line and drive the deer into a narrow 
valley where they surround and shoot them as they try to escape. TIIF APACIIE-YUMAS AND APACIIE-MOJAVES. 
15 
No part of the deer or antelope is discarded. The foetus is a 
dainty morsel and the intestines choice parts, which the hunters 
usually feast upon at once. The head is baked in a pit upon 
heated stones. It is put in at night and taken out the next 
morning ready to be eaten. The rest of the meat is usually 
boiled in the earthen pots, but is often broiled on the coals. 
Bones are broken, and all the marrow is carefully extracted. 
Mask For Hunters, 
They are very much'attached to all of their children, but treat the 
boys with marked respect. The latter are often gravely consulted 
and their advice accepted'as if they were men. The women are 
as a rule kindly treated. The majority of the men have one wife, 
but some of the older ones have two wives, having taken the 16 
THE APACHE-YUMAS AND APACHE-MOJAVES. 
second before the wars with the whites, which were more fatal 
to the women than to the men. Separation rarely occurs after a 
woman has borne children. On the Verde Reservation the men 
outnumbered the women, and the scarcity of the latter led to 
prostitution, the young men appropriating the.widows. They 
also stole women from theTontos and Apaches for the purpose of 
debauching them, wrestling with one another for the precedence. 
The women assume the duties of wives at about the age of 
fifteen. The marriage form is a very simple one, the man, after 
coming to an understanding with the girl, makes her parents a 
present, usually a buckskin or two, to obtain their consent, then 
goes and lives with her, becoming a member of her family. Very 
rarely a girl is given away without her consent, when if she is 
not docile, she is beaten and forced to the bidding of her 
husband. 
For two years in succession I observed that in August and 
September the women solicited the attentions of the men, and an 
unusual number of couples were seen with their heads hidden in 
a blanket caressing each other. The majority of the children 
were born in the spring. 
The woman assumes a squatting posture during labor,* and is 
assisted by an old woman, who squats behind her and makes 
steady gentle compression with hands clasped over the abdomen, 
following the uterus down, or, if labor be difficult, exerting 
considerable force to expel the foetus, or raising and shaking the 
woman up and down. The cord is cut about one inch from the 
child's body and tied with a string. After her delivery, the 
woman draws a roll of buckskin snugly around her waist, attires 
herself in a new buckskin skirt, and resumes her ordinary duties. 
Her diet is restricted to soup and mescal-water for three or four 
days, or until the first milk, which is thought not to be good for 
the child, has been rubbed out of the breast. They are occasion- 
ally afflicted with inflamed breasts, as is indicated by the custom 
of holding the breasts over a hot stone and pressing some of the 
milk out to fall upon it. They say that a woman once neglected 
to take this precaution, and her breasts become very sore, 
and had at length to be cut open with a sharp stone by a 
medicine-man to let out the pus. The A-Yuma mothers for 
several months bind on the infant's breast-bone a buckskin 
bag, from two and a half to three inches square, filled with 
earth, and are frequently seen pressing in the bone with 
their hands. They all pierce their children's ears, using for the 
purpose a sharp fire-hardened piece of wood. The reason for 
these customs they are unable to give. 
Children arc usually quite large before they arc named, and 
often fully grown, and until they arc known as sKti (one), or as 
♦This is also the posture taken by all Indians while micturating. THE APACHE-YUMAS AND APAC1IE-M0JAVES. 
17 
the girl or boy of a certain man. Adults do not always know 
the names by which others designate them, or else are ashamed 
to tell, as frequently a man when asked his name will turn to a 
bystander and ask him to tell it. The names are usually descriptive 
of physical or mental peculiarities, or notable acts of the persons 
to whom they are applied. Occasionally a man gives himself a 
name. One name may cling to an individual through life, but 
usually he acquires a new one for every striking deed he performs. 
After a new one is received the old one is often forgotten. 
A collection of <the names of a man sometimes constitutes a 
sketch of his life. 
The head of each family formerly governed his immediate 
relatives in patriarchal style, being guided by the medicine-men 
in important matters. After their subjection, the tribes were 
divided into bands, and a chief was appointed over each, but it 
was only by force that the people were brought to recognize the 
authority given to these men. Permanent war-chiefs were not 
known, but whenever a number of families united in an expedition 
they followed some man who had proved himself brave, or had met 
with success on a former occasion. Medicine-men accompanied 
them to advise them and incite them to deeds of bravery, but 
did not themselves take part in the fights. The parties usually 
went out to revenge the death of a relative, male or female, and 
thus fulfill what they considered a sacred duty. They depended 
upon surprise and superior numbers for success. Their attacks 
were made early in the morning while the enemy were sleeping, 
or they lay in ambush and dashed suddenly upon them in order 
that they might get close enough to use their favorite weapon, 
the club. They resorted to the bow and arrow when unable to 
arrive at close quarters. At Date Creek and the Verde Agency 
many of them carried flint-lock and other old muskets which 
they procured in trade from the Navajos and Moquis. They kill 
all men and grown boys, taking only women and children prisoners 
and sometimes in retaliation killing these also. They sometimes 
mutilate the dead, but never take scalps. See cut. 
The war-club is the shape of the beetle commonly used by 
wood-choppers. It is made of a piece of mezquit wood, and is 
about fourteen inches long, the head usually being painted black 
and the handle red. Their bow is made of willow or mezquit 
and the string of twisted sinew. The length is about four feet 
but varies ■ according to the height of the individual using it. 
They have two kinds of arrows, those made of cane a-tay pointed 
with a piece of hard wood, to be used in hunting small game, 
and those made of the stem of the arrow bush ha-ta-wtl\[ pointed 
with stone or iron heads, to be used in hunting large game, and 
in war. The arrow-head is set in a shallow notch at the end of 
the shaft and held in place by means of a thin shred of sinew 
wound in the form of a figure 8. As long as the sinew remains 18 
THE APACHE-YUMAS AND APACHE-MOJAVES. 
dry, the head is secure, but if wet, it soon becomes soft, and for 
this reason efforts made to withdraw an arrow from a wound 
almost invariably result in the detachment of the shaft, and the 
loss of the head in the wound. The plume is about six inches 
long and is put on spirally, the three pieces of which it is formed 
making one-fourth of a turn around the shank. They poisoned 
their war-arrows in the following manner: The skinned and 
dried head of a rattlesnake was powdered on a stone and mixed 
with clotted blood, salt, and a liquid squeezed from large red 
ants, or the ants themselves dried and powdered. After this 
mixture has been allowed to stand for a time, it was carefully 
smeared on the arrow-heads with a piece of buck-skin, and in 
order to distinguish them from arrows not treated in this manner, 
they were dipped into a stinking liquid obtained by crushing 
certain leaves. 
Nearly every family has its shaman or medicine-man who 
belongs to an order, the members of which are regarded with 
veneration and awe, on account of their supposed intimacy with 
supernatural beings. They have unbounded influence over the 
people through the superstitions which they impart to them. 
They are selected from the males above the age of fifteen by the 
spirits, they say, who frequently manifest their choice in strange 
ways. A young man was once pointed out to me as one who 
was probably in communication with the spirits, and would 
become a medicine-man, as he sometimes bled from the mouth, 
and was in the habit of wandering off by himself. It was said 
that once after an absence of some days in midwinter he returned 
with an unfamiliar flower, which he must have brought from a 
distant and warmer country. I afterward saw him in a fainting 
fit, caused by hemorrhage from the lungs, for which they would 
allow nothing to be done, as he was thought to be in communion 
with the spirits. The medicine-men profess to be on familiar 
terms with the spirits, each one having his twin or familiar, whose 
assistance he procures to enable him to counteract the influence 
of evil and less powerful spirits. When a spirit has selected a 
man, it appears to him in a dream, and attaches itself to him as 
his counsellor and guide. It conducts him on a long journey 
east through the spirit land, in order to initiate him into its 
mysteries. This journey consumed several nights, the spirit 
returning night after night, providing the man be found 
worthy, to continue it until completed. His faith, secrecy, 
and endurance are tested on these occasions. Soon after 
they start, a great mountain intercepts them, and those meet 
him who endeavor to turn him back by telling him that 
the journey is a perilous one, and that the mountain is too 
high for him to cross, and he cannot go through it, as it is solid 
rock, but the spirit encourages him and informs him it is only 
earth and he can go through it. If he has faith in what the THE APACHE-YU MAS AND APACHE MOJAVES. 
19 
spirit tells him, and makes the attempt, he easily penetrates the 
mountain. Beyond it they have to cross eight parallel rivers. 
They then enter a delightful country, the abode of spirits, who 
occupy houses which face the rising sun. Farther on he visits 
the beautiful and silent woman, who lives 
alone in a round white house, the roof of 
which is formed of the rainbow, and the 
door faces the east and sparkles under 
the rays of the rising sun. Here he sees 
many beautiful rattles and is taught the 
use of them. He at length reaches sunrise 
and beholds the all-wise and truthful spirit 
Se-ma-che who dwells there.* From him 
he learns how to cure pain, heal wounds, 
make charms, etc. The man is bound to 
secrecy until he reaches sunrise, when his 
journey ends, and he is at liberty to pro- 
claim himself a medicine man or pa-semache. 
After this his familiar visits him only when 
he invokes its aid in chants, accompanied 
by the rattling of a gourd containing some 
pebbles. The smoking of certain weeds 
constitutes an important part of the invoca- 
tion. 
All the medicine-men meet occasionally 
and with considerable ceremony "make med- 
icine." They went through this performance 
early in the summer of 1874 at the Rio 
Verde Agency, for the purpose of averting 
the diseases with which the people had 
been afflicted the summer previous. In 
the middle of one of the villages they 
erected a ramada, or brush hut, some ten 
feet in diameter, and under it, on the sand, 
illustrated the spirit land in a picture about 
seven feet across, made in colors by sprink- 
ling powdered leaves, grass, red clay, 
charcoal, and ashes on the smooth sand. 
In the centre was a round red spot, about 
ten inches in diameter, and around it sev- 
eral successive rings, alternately green and 
red, each one being an inch and a half wide. 
From the outer one radiated four somewhat triangular shaped 
figures, each corresponding to one of the cardinal points, giving 
the whole the appearance of a Maltese cross. Around this cross 
and between its arms were the figures of men, their feet toward 
Domestic Utensils. 
*Thcy have an ornament, made by fastening together base to base two talons from the hawk or 
eagle, which is symbolical of Sematche, the sun-rise god, or the suit. See cut oh page 33. 20 
TIIE APACHE-YUMAS AND APACIIE-MOJAVES. 
the center, some made of charcoal with ashes for eyes and hair, 
others of red clay and ashes, etc. These figures were eight 
or nine inches long, and nearly all of them lacked some portion 
of the body, as an arm, or leg, or head. The medicine-men 
seated themselves on the ground in a circle around the picture 
and the Indians of the different bands crowded about them, the 
old men squatting close by and the young ones standing back 
of them. After they had invoked the aid of the spirits, in a 
number of chants, one of their number-apparently the oldest-a 
toothless, gray-haired man, solemnly arose, and carefully stepping 
between the figures of the men, dropped on all except three of 
them, a pinch of yellow powder which he took from a small 
buckskin bag handed to him by one of the others. He put 
the powder on the head, chest, or other part of the body, 
one of the other men sometimes telling him where to put 
it. After going all around, he put up the bag and then went 
around again and took from each figure a large pinch of powder, 
including some of the yellow, until he had collected a heaping 
handful. He then stepped back and each of the other medicine 
men collected a handful in the same manner. Some of the 
laymen, in their eagerness to get some of the consecrated powder, 
pressed forward, but they were ordered back. When all the 
medicine-men had supplied themselves, the ramada was torn 
down and a rush was made by men and boys, who grabbed 
handfuls of the powder and rubbed it or their bodies or carried 
it away. The women and children, who were waiting for an 
invitation* were then called. They crowded to the spot, and 
grabbing handfuls of the powder,- tossed it up in the air and stood 
under it as it fell, or they rubbed their bodies with it, mothers 
throwing it over their children and rubbing it on their heads. 
This ended the performance. The medicine-men afterward made 
and sold small crosses containing some of the powder. Each 
cross was formed of two pieces of wild cane about two inches 
long, wrapped with red and blue yarn, and tied together. 
They attributed diseases and injuries to the influence of evil 
spirits, who work their mischief on the men through the women. 
They rarely prescribe medicines, but deal largely in charms. 
When these do not appear to to be efficacious, the medicine-man 
sings over the sick or wounded, keeping time with his rattle, to 
summon his familiar. He stops to rest now and then, smoking 
in the intervals. He frequently sings all night, and sometimes 
for several nights in succession. Occasionally an assistant makes 
responses. Should the patient be a man the result of the incanta- 
tions is that some woman, usually that of an unfaithful wife or a 
prostitute, is charged with having bewitched him, and the one 
so charged is tied to a tree by the relatives of the patient, to 
await the result of the case. If he should die she is stoned to 
death. To ledfn whether or not a patient will recover, the THE APACHE-YUMAS AND APACHE-MOJAVES. 
21 
medicine-man says he swallows a live coal and then ejects it into 
the air; if still alive when it falls to the ground, the patient will 
recover, ifblack he will die. Or he swallows a pipe which has 
been filled with tobacco and lighted. It works out of his body, 
usually from an arm or a leg, and if white, the prognosis is good, 
but if colored, it is bad. 
A sick man may be recognized by the buckskin string which 
he ties around an arm or a leg, but oftenest around the latter 
just below the knee,\to prevent his strength from running out. 
They were free from venereal affections until a band of Indians 
under Chemehue vi Sal were sent to the Agency from the 
Colorado river in 1874. The women had been debauched by 
the whites on the river, and were nearly all infected. In a few 
months after their arrival venereal diseases had become prevalent, 
and since then have proved a scourge to these tribes. 
They suck arrow and gun shot wounds as soon as possible 
after their infliction, and believe that the latter like the former are 
poisoned. They afterward blow into them as an antidote a red 
powder, which is said to be obtained from the root of a plant 
that grows in the red-rock country near the Verde river. When 
much swelling and pain occur, they make scarifications around 
the wound and suck them. I have seen extensive emphysema 
of the neck and upper part of the chest produced by suction in 
a case of wound of the summit of the chest.* The friends of a 
wounded man invariably smear some of his blood upon them- 
selves. Their sick and wounded are transported upon their 
backs in the cone-shaped baskets. They make use of dry earth 
as a dressing for running sores, which they completely cover 
with it in order to absorb all discharges, and the women introduce, 
large plugs of clay into the vagina for discharges from it. 
Scarification is practiced for the relief of pain, and there is 
scarcely an Indian but has scars on his body remaining from the 
operation. In the case of a woman who was suffering with 
severe pain in her right thigh, the operation was performed as 
follows: After she had tied a deer skin snugly around the 
upper part of her thigh, and seated herself upon the ground 
with the leg flexed under the thigh, the medicine man chose a 
sharp flake of quartz from a number of pieces he had with him, 
and, beginning at the upper part of the thigh made eight or ten 
shallow cuts about one-third of an inch to an inch and a half in 
length and about one-third of an inch apart. He then, with the 
outer edge of his hand and a smooth stick, brushed off the blood 
as it oozed in drops from the cuts, and blew mouthfuls of water 
in a spray upon them until they ceased to bleed, when he made 
more cuts lower down and treated them in a similar manner. He 
*The Tonto Apaches, when wounded, wear a buckskin shirt bearing various painted figures, or 
they fasten around the waist the figure of a lizard cut out of buckskin. 22 
THE APACHE-YUMAS AND APACHE-MOJAVES. 
continued to scarify until he had made over one hundred cut.% 
and drawn about six fluid ounces of blood. 
For slight cuts and bruises they lay a piece of the dried skin 
of the Gila monster upon a coal of fire and hold the injured part 
in the smoke arising from it. A fractured limb is placed in a 
splint made of numerous slender sticks, which are tied together 
in a row and then bound around the limb. They suck rattle- 
snake bites, and apply a powder of some kind as an antidote, 
but do not claim it is a specific, admitting that the bite some- 
times proves fatal. 
They make use of numerous charms, some of which are to 
render them invulnerable in war, and others to insure success 
in hunting, gambling, and affairs of love. The fangs of the 
rattlesnake ward off arrows and bullets. Before engaging in a 
game of chance the hands are scratched with them, and they 
are sometimes introduced into the pole with which their favorite 
game of turebi is played. Great secrecy is observed in using 
them, to prevent the use of a countercharm by the other side. 
A bezoar from the stomach of a deer gives the possessor of it 
good luck in hunting, and happy is the hunter who finds one. 
Crosses and the rattles of the rattlesnake are tied to a lock of the 
hair to prevent and cure pain in the head. Little wooden figures 
representing men, are worn by many tied to the belt. Quartz 
crystals give good luck. All green stones possess peculiar 
virtues, and are treasured by the medicine-men. Many of the 
people make beads of various roots to string around the neck 
and eat when sick. 
The Apache-Mojaves sometimes resort to the Tonto medicine 
men to receive the rattlesnake treatment for the relief of pain. 
At the Agency one day, the rattling of a snake attracted my 
attention, and on approaching a group of Indians from which 
the sound seemed to proceeds, I found a medicine-man squatting 
dowm holding a large rattlesnake in his right hand, the thumb 
and index of which encircled it close to its head, while he gently 
stroked its back with his left. Presently an old man advanced 
to him, and, saying he had pain in his head, squatted on the 
ground. The medicine-man arose, and, placing himself behind 
his patient, coiled the snake around his head, and, while holding 
it there, uttered a gutteral chant, occasionally causing the snake 
to vibrate its rattles. He then quickly uncoiled the snake and 
swung it head foremost away from the man's head, at the same 
time making the sound wisht. The man then pointed to his right 
arm, and the medicine-man laid the snake along the limb, its 
head resting on the h^nd. He chanted again, caused it to rattle 
and swung it away as before. The old man arose and with a 
satisfied air walked away. Other patients succeeded him to have 
the snake laid on various parts of the body. After a time the 
medicine-man rested the snake on the ground again, and, still THE APACHE-YUMA8 AND APACIIE-MOJAVES. 
23 
retaining his hold of it with his right hand, put a pinch of yellow 
pollen into its mouth with his left, and rubbed some along its belly. 
He then held his hand out to a man, who took a pinch of the 
powder and rubbed it on the crown of a boy's head. Yellow 
pollen treated in this manner is a common 
remedy for headache, and may frequently 
be seen on the crown of the head of men 
and boys. 
The medicine-men are consulted for the 
purpose of recovering lost or stolen proper- 
ty. A Yavape Indian related to me how 
one of them found for him a blanket that 
had been stolen from his uwah. He first 
presented the man with a buckskin, then 
described the blanket, told him where he 
had left it, and on what night it was taken. 
The man went to sleep in order to question 
his familiar. He had instructed three 
Indians that when he clapped his hands 
they must hold him to the ground, with his 
arms extended at right angles with his 
body, so that when the spirit came it could 
not carry him off. They did as he directed, 
and when he awoke he said that the blanket 
had been pulled out of the back of the uwah 
by a man who buried it in a hole which 
he had dug in his own uwah, and left it 
there until the following night, when he 
dug it up and went in a round aboutway 
to a certain tree quite a distance off, in 
which he hid it among the branches. 
The Indian went to the tree indicated and 
in it found his blanket. 
The dead are disposed of by cremation. 
The body is laid upon some sticks of wood, 
and enough piled upon it to consume it. 
Ashes and a few small pieces of calcined 
bone are all that remain on the site of the 
fire. If the death occurs in a hut, the fire 
is built inside, and the hut, together with 
everything in it, is burned along with the 
body. When a death is anticipated the 
precaution is sometimes taken to remove valuable articles, not 
usually those of Indian manufacture however, but only such as 
have been procured from the whites. If there is no relatives to 
carry the wood for a pyre, the body is left where death occurred. 
Bodies left in this mannner dry up and become mummafied. 
They buried the body of a man in the ground at the Verde 
Apache Religious Emblems. 24 
THE APACHE-YUMAS AND APACHE-MOJAVES. 
Agency when ordered by their agent to do so, but they did it 
under protest. They dislike very much to touch, or even go 
near a corpse, and especially if the death has been caused by 
disease. As soon as death is announced, all the huts in the 
immediate neighborhood are deserted, and often burned. For 
several weeks afterward the female relatives of the deceased wail 
at intervals, sitting on the ground with their heads bowed 
between theii* knees rocking themselves back and forth, and 
whenever they meet any one they break forth into lamentations. 
Men cut their hair short as a sign of mourning. It is believed 
that the spirits of the dead wander about at night, and the dread 
of encountering them is so great that no one willingly walks 
abroad after dark, but if compelled to go carries a torch or sings 
in a loud voice. They dislike to speak of the dead, and will not 
mention his name, but refer to him indirectly and usually in a 
whisper. 
They do not endure physical pain any better, if as well, as the 
whites. Great or continuous pain renders them stupid, and 
oftentimes delirious, and the stolidity with which Indians in 
general are credited is not well maintained by them under small 
surgical operations, the one of tooth extracting almost always 
eliciting a groan or a yell. The expression of their faces cannot 
always be seen on account of paint and their long hair, but when 
not concealed by these, the changes induced by the emotions 
may readily be detected; anger is almost always betrayed by the 
expression of the eyes; fear by the dirty grayish color the skin 
assumes ; surprise by suddenly drawing in a breath as if gasping, 
and sometimes also by covering the mouth with one one hand. 
They rarely point with the finger, but raise the chin and pout 
the lips toward the object. In beckoning to a person to approach 
they raise a hand with the palm forward, high up when the 
person is far off, and then swing it forward and downward. 
The medicine-men say that the earth is flat, round and station- 
ary. Below it there is another region similar to it in all respects. 
The sun has a diurnal motion. In the morning it rises from 
just below the earth, crosses over to the west, sinks a little below 
the earth, and then makes its way north and around to the cast 
again. The moon stands still, but all of the stars move. Many 
of the latter have names, and some of them have myths connected 
with them. The three stars of the second magnitude in Orion's 
belt ( * * *) are called mu- uzor mountain sheep, formerly they 
were further apart, and the middle one (E) was the hindermost, 
but having been shot at by the hunter, who with his dog is 
chasing them, he jumped over the one (T) that was then in the 
middle. The hunter, the dog, and the arrow are constellations 
in the neighborhood of Orion. Their year begins at the seed- 
gathering time in September, and they count the moons until 
the next seed-time. THE TIBETO-BURMAN GROUP OF LANGUAGE S. 
25 
Yavapes tell of a wonderful spring in the red-rock country on 
the Verde river north of Fort Verde, near which they once lived. 
It wells up into a basin worn in the solid rock, beneath a chimney 
like opening which extends through the whole thickness of a high 
overhanging rock. A spirit guards it, and withdraws the water 
whenever he hears a human being approach. Any one who 
wishes to obtain water from it must steal up and dip quickly 
so as to take the water-spirit by surprise, otherwise the water will 
sink out of sight. If during a drouth any one wishes to produce 
rain and can succeed in getting some of the water, and throwing 
it to a certain point high up on the rock the clouds will surely 
gather soon and rain begin to fall. 
Wm. H. Corbusier, M. D., U. S. A.