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    A Pima Remembers
    A Pima Remembers
    A Pima Remembers
    Ebook116 pages1 hour

    A Pima Remembers

    By George Webb

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    About this ebook

    The lifestyle of a people, preserved in the memory of a Pima whose life ran from the late 1800s to the Space Age. The universality of man’s eternal hope of betterment is reflected in the wisdom of the Pimas:

    So now I hope
    You will strive
    To make this day
    The best in your life.

    George Webb.

    “…a book which seems to have grown right out of the Arizona earth—anecdotal, almost artless in its directness, but having the impact of reality…a flavorsome re-creation of things past in the life of a friendly, generous people.”— The New York Times

    “George Webb’s gentle recollections of his childhood and Pima Indian lifeways will doubtless endure forever. This deeply moving autobiography is the perfect introduction for younger Pimas to their culture and history.” —Arizona Highways

    “This extraordinarily pleasant and amiable narrative wakes vivid an ancient and happy way of life”—Oliver LaFarge
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherNormanby Press
    Release dateNov 6, 2015
    ISBN9781786254870
    A Pima Remembers
    Author

    George Webb

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      Book preview

      A Pima Remembers - George Webb

      A PIMA REMEMBERS

      by

      GEORGE WEBB

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

      Contents

      TABLE OF CONTENTS 2

      FOREWORD 3

      PREFACE 4

      SOME PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THIS WRITING 5

      A PEACEFUL LIFE 6

      THE BATTLE OF AJI 12

      A RABBIT HUNT 14

      THE OLD WAYS 15

      THE FIRST WHITE MEN 18

      EARLY DAYS 20

      PIMA GAMES 22

      THE APACHE WARS 24

      PROGRESS 26

      THOSE WHO ARE GONE 28

      BOYHOOD 31

      SCHOOL DAYS 33

      THE GREAT WHEAT HARVEST 35

      FLOOD 38

      THE PIMA LANGUAGE 39

      HORSE ROUND-UP 42

      THE MISSION 46

      PIMA LEGENDS 49

      LEGEND OF THE HUHUGAM 50

      THE LEGEND OF HO’OK 52

      EAGLEMAN 55

      LEGEND OF THE GREAT FLOOD 58

      LEGEND OF THE BIG DROUGHT 59

      WHITE CLAY EATER 61

      THE LEGEND OF TODAY 65

      LAND 67

      WATER 68

      Flypaper 71

      REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 72

      FOREWORD

      GEORGE WEBB was born about 1893 at Gila Crossing on the Gila River Reservation, some twenty miles south of Phoenix, Arizona. His father was struggling with the problems of farming along the river at a time when white men upstream were appropriating nearly all the water. His parents wanted him to have as much schooling as possible. They sent him, at the age of six, to the Gila Crossing Day School. He attended for a year and then went on to the Indian Bureau Boarding School in 1902. He spent ten years there, graduating in 1912. From 1914 to 1917 he attended public high school in Phoenix, when that school had an enrollment of 800. He left high school in 1917 and went to work for a year as a ranch-hand near Glendale, Arizona, until he was appointed by the Indian Agent at Sacaton as a farm overseer at Gila Crossing. He served in this capacity for three years, managing farm operations, and at some time during this period enrolled in the Cook Bible Institute.

      When George Webb was twenty-eight he bought cattle of his own and married Hattie MacDonald of his own village of Gila Crossing. For the next twenty-seven years he raised cattle and farmed intermittently when there was sufficient irrigation water. He and Mrs. Webb raised a family of seven children, four boys and three girls. Two of the boys served in the United States Armed Forces, one in Europe and another in Korea. In 1934 George Webb was elected representative from Gila Crossing to the first Tribal Council. In 1938 he gave up trying to farm because of shortage of water and ran a grocery store for two years.

      In 1940 the Webbs moved near Chandler, and in 1948 sold out their cattle. For the past nine years George Webb has lived as a retired cattleman on his farm. In 1942 he was appointed Associate Judge of the Tribal Court and served until 1950. After his retirement he conceived the idea of writing these sketches of Pima history and traditions.

      His narrative is aimed at two audiences. On the one hand, it was inspired by his desire to acquaint younger Pimas with some of the background and traditions of their people; traditions in the process of being forgotten. He also wanted to reach white men who misunderstand the position of Pimas in modern American life. For both audiences Mr. Webb seasons his story with genial, but often deep-cutting humor.

      Edward H. Spicer

      University of Arizona

      PREFACE

      THIS book is written with the young Pima Indians in mind. Very few Pima parents tell their children about the customs and habits of their forefathers. Therefore the present young Pimas do not know of the early life of their people.

      With my own forefathers as informants I write this narration which is part of the lives they went through.

      You will notice that I give no dates as my informants gave none, only the order of events as put down in this writing.

      When I was young, the old Pimas could remember a long way back in time. They did not have any writing, but they did have what is called a Calendar Stick. On this stick they carved signs that reminded them of things they wanted to remember. Sometimes in the evenings they would look at this stick and tell what had happened in their grandfathers’ time. Or they would remember a story.

      These forefathers of mine never had any of the whiteman’s education. They were educated in the ways of nature and used natural resources for food and clothing. This may have something to do with their long lives as they lived to be very old.

      This writing is done in a very simple way so that the Indian with the least education may read and understand it. I did not try to go into the origin of the Pimas more than to tell a few legends that may throw some light on where they came from. Stories were handed down from generation to generation, but today there are only a few of us who know them, and we do not make a practice of telling them. The whole story of White Clay Eater takes four nights to tell so I did not attempt to tell it all, only a short part.

      When I finished writing this book I did not know how to go about getting it published.

      I called up the Tucson Indian School and they sent Miss Audrey Bard, English teacher, to go over the writing. She introduced me to the Chairman of the Folklore Committee at the University of Arizona, Miss Frances Gillmor, who placed this writing in the hands of Dr. E. H. Spicer of the Anthropology Department. Dr. Spicer arranged for Mr. Harry Behn to design the book and prepare it for publication by the University.

      I want to thank Mrs. Harry Childson of Apache Junction also for her help and Mr. Dean Saxton for his assistance with the proper way of writing the Pima words.

      I am thankful to meet such good people.

      George Webb

      SOME PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THIS WRITING

      Buzzing Feather

      Juana Losso

      Eaglefeathers

      Swift Arrow

      Grayhorse

      Keli•hi

      Rainbow’s Ends

      A FEW PIMA WORDS

      amog a speech

      vato shade

      olas-ki old Pima round house

      Jujkam Mexicans

      Miliga•n white people

      chu’i pinole candy

      ato-’ova’igo Pima war cry

      ban-vivega coyote tobacco

      vi-hog mesquite beans

      wulivega arrow target

      ku•sheda rabbit hunt on horseback

      shaa-tha rabbit hunt on foot

      A PEACEFUL LIFE

      WAY out in the southwestern part of our country which is now the State of Arizona, there was a Pima Indian Village.

      It was a day in the early part of spring. The desert was covered with green grass and the trees were just beginning to put forth their leaves. The sun had been shining brightly and was now low over the horizon.

      Juana Losso stood on a little knoll not far from her brush home. With hand shading her eyes she was looking towards the distant hills watching for a glimpse of dust that would tell the return of her husband Eaglefeathers from a hunting trip. Beside her was a little boy of two summers whose name was Keli•hi, which means Old Fashioned.

      Not seeing any dust Juana Losso and her little boy walked slowly back toward their home.

      Just then two other boys came running over the desert. They were also sons of Juana Losso, and older than little Keli•hi. With them was a dog.

      Grayhorse had a cottontail rabbit hanging from a cotton string tied around his waist. Swift Arrow had two quail hanging from his cotton string belt.

      This cotton string belt the boys wore held up their gee-strings, the only clothing the Pimas wore in those days. Juana Losso wore the usual dress of the women which was a cotton cloth wrapped around her waist hanging down to the knees.

      The boys and their mother were all barefooted, although sometimes they wore sandals made from cow or horse hide.

      Grayhorse and Swift Arrow were both talking at the same time

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