Explorers in Eden: Pueblo Indians and the Promised Land

1: Cushing in Zuni

17฀ CHAPTER ONE Cushing in Zuni In฀the฀fall฀of฀1875,฀John฀Wesley฀Powell,฀an฀experienced฀explorer฀of฀the฀South-฀ west,฀ conducted฀ a฀ geological฀ survey฀ for฀ the฀ United฀ States฀ government.฀ He฀journeyed฀through฀the฀Grand฀Canyon฀to฀the฀isolated฀Hopi฀pueblos฀in฀ Arizona.฀ In฀ Oraibi,฀ where฀ he฀ encountered฀“unsightly”฀ homes฀ and฀“filthy”฀ streets,฀the฀people฀were฀“very฀hospitable”฀and฀women฀demonstrated฀“great฀ skill฀in฀ceramic฀art.”฀In฀this฀“desert฀land,”฀he฀realized,฀the฀Indians฀possessed฀ “a฀vast฀store฀of฀mythology,฀and฀an฀elaborate฀ceremonious฀religion.”฀Evidently฀ intrigued฀as฀he฀heard฀tales฀drawn฀from฀their฀“unwritten฀bible,”฀Powell฀wondered :฀who฀is฀this฀“strange฀people,”฀whose฀origins฀were฀shrouded฀in฀mystery?฀ Noting฀how฀“Bible฀stories฀are฀compounded฀with฀native฀stories”฀in฀Pueblo฀lore,฀ he฀found฀it฀understandable฀that฀Americans฀might฀believe฀that฀Pueblo฀Indians฀ were฀“descendants฀of฀the฀lost฀tribes฀of฀Israel.”1 Powell฀remembered฀his฀pueblo฀visit.฀Several฀years฀later,฀as฀chief฀of฀the฀ Bureau฀of฀Ethnology,฀a฀new฀branch฀of฀the฀Smithsonian฀Institution,฀he฀authorized ฀Col.฀James฀Stevenson,฀his฀former฀associate฀in฀the฀geological฀survey,฀to฀ lead฀an฀expedition฀“to฀make฀as฀careful฀a฀study฀as฀circumstances฀will฀permit฀ of฀the฀Pueblo฀ruins฀and฀caves.”฀It฀should฀include฀collections฀of฀artifacts฀representing ฀“the฀arts฀and฀industries฀of฀the฀inhabitants”;฀photos฀and฀drawings฀ of฀the฀Indians฀with฀scenes฀of฀daily฀life;฀and฀an฀investigation฀of฀their฀language ,฀customs,฀habits,฀myths,฀governance,฀and฀architecture.฀Powell฀believed฀ that฀government฀sponsorship฀of฀such฀an฀expedition฀would฀be฀an฀important฀ 18฀ CHAPTER ONE contribution฀ to฀ the฀“new฀ science”฀ of฀ anthropology,฀ while฀ simultaneously฀ providing฀a฀persuasive฀rationale฀for฀national฀Indian฀policy.2 The฀director฀of฀the฀Smithsonian,฀Spencer฀F.฀Baird,฀supervised฀a฀young฀ protégé฀who฀seemed฀destined฀for฀just฀such฀an฀expedition.฀As฀a฀precocious฀and฀ independent฀boy฀growing฀up฀in฀western฀New฀York,฀Frank฀Hamilton฀Cushing’s฀ early฀interest฀in฀Indian฀artifacts฀was฀stimulated฀when฀a฀Cushing฀family฀plowman ฀unearthed฀an฀arrowhead,฀telling฀him,฀“Indians฀made฀that.”฀This฀formative ฀experience฀inspired฀young฀Cushing฀to฀explore฀Indian฀history฀and฀culture฀ in฀his฀own฀way,฀seldom฀attending฀formal฀school.฀With฀his฀brother,฀Cushing฀ built฀a฀wigwam,฀which฀the฀boys฀inhabited฀for฀days฀at฀a฀time฀while฀they฀foraged ฀for฀Indian฀artifacts,฀gathering฀arrowheads,฀beads,฀and฀pottery฀shards.฀ To฀better฀understand฀the฀techniques฀of฀Indian฀craftsmanship,฀Cushing฀even฀ attempted฀to฀reproduce฀by฀hand฀the฀artifacts฀that฀he฀found.฀“If฀I฀would฀study฀ any฀old,฀lost฀art,”฀he฀later฀explained,฀“I฀must฀make฀myself฀the฀artisan฀of฀it.”฀ Baird,฀who฀learned฀about฀Cushing’s฀adventures฀from฀a฀mutual฀family฀friend,฀ invited฀the฀teenage฀explorer฀to฀publish฀a฀paper฀on฀his฀collection฀of฀artifacts฀ in฀the฀Annual฀Report฀of฀the฀Smithsonian฀Institution.฀Three฀years฀later,฀after฀ a฀brief฀sojourn฀as฀a฀student฀at฀Cornell,฀Cushing฀joined฀the฀Smithsonian฀staff.฀ Despite฀his฀ethnographic฀work฀for฀the฀Centennial฀Exposition฀in฀Philadelphia,฀ it฀did฀not฀take฀long฀for฀him฀to฀feel฀stultified฀by฀his฀“socially฀dead,฀morally฀ dead,฀intellectually฀dead”฀life฀in฀Washington.3 “One฀hot฀summer฀day฀in฀1879,”฀Cushing฀recalled,฀“as฀I฀was฀sitting฀in฀my฀ office฀in฀the฀ivy-mantled฀old฀South฀Tower฀of฀the฀Smithsonian฀Institution,฀a฀ messenger฀boy฀tapped฀at฀my฀door.”฀Professor฀Baird฀asked฀to฀see฀him.฀“Haven’t฀ I฀heard฀you฀say฀you฀would฀like฀to฀go฀to฀New฀Mexico฀to฀study฀the฀cliff-houses฀ and฀Pueblo฀Indians?”฀Baird฀inquired.฀Hearing฀Cushing’s฀enthusiastic฀reply,฀ Baird฀told฀him฀to฀be฀prepared฀within฀four฀days฀to฀join฀the฀Stevenson฀expedition ฀to฀Zuni.฀“I฀want฀you฀to฀find฀out฀all฀you฀can฀about฀some฀typical฀tribe฀of฀ Pueblo฀Indians.”฀Baird฀advised฀him:฀“Use฀your฀own฀methods;฀only฀get฀the฀ information.”4 Photographed฀just฀before฀he฀left฀Washington,฀Cushing฀was฀every฀bit฀the฀ effete฀Easterner฀indulging฀his฀Western฀frontier฀fantasies฀(fig.฀2).฀With฀his฀hair฀ neatly฀parted฀and฀combed,฀wearing฀a฀fine฀shirt,฀silk฀cravat,฀and฀gaiters,฀his฀ belt-knife฀and฀rifle฀(resting฀on฀neatly฀folded฀gloves)฀seem฀more฀like฀props฀for฀ a฀performance฀than฀genuine฀weapons.฀Posing฀against฀a฀leafy฀studio฀backdrop,฀ holding฀a฀note฀pad฀and฀pen,฀he฀was฀the฀embodiment฀of฀a฀young฀Eastern฀gentleman ฀primed฀for฀the฀challenge฀of฀his฀journey฀into฀manhood.฀If฀this฀photo฀ 19฀ CUSHING IN ZUNI fig.฀2.฀฀“Frank฀Hamilton฀Cushing฀Before฀His฀Departure฀to฀Zuni,”฀฀ National฀Anthropological฀Archives,฀Smithsonian฀Institution฀(80–9479). 20฀ CHAPTER ONE captured฀Cushing’s฀“cultural฀point฀of฀departure,”฀as฀Jesse฀Green฀suggests,฀“its฀ pale฀and฀Eastern฀manner”฀also฀reveals฀how...