winter is the least enjoyable of all seasons for the people of cliff palace. it is a long, quiet, cold season, when the witches plague the people with their evil deeds. there is much sickness and suffering and often the sadness of death hangs over the town. those who are active and healthy do not mind it so much, but it is an uncomfortable season for the children and an agonizing time for older men and women who suffer from rheumatism and arthritis.
during the late fall the weather has grown colder and colder and now in december comes true winter. cold winds sweep down from the mountains to the north, bringing the snow: soon the mesa tops are white. in the vicinity of cliff palace it seldom gets deep. when it reaches a depth of a foot, it is considered heavy, but if it reaches a depth of two feet or more the people talk excitedly about it and the old men begin to recall the heavy snows of by-gone days. the snow will not remain on the ground all winter for the mesa slopes to the south and the rays of the sun beat directly down upon it. the first december snow will soon melt and the mesa tops will be dry for a time. then another snow storm will turn it white again but that, too, will melt away and so it will continue through the winter. occasionally, there will be warm days when the mesa tops will be muddy and small streams of water will come trickling down the cliffs.
as the cold increases the people gradually become accustomed to it. their houses are never perfectly warm and comfortable so their strong, healthy bodies become hardened to the chill of the shadowy cave. sometimes the night temperatures drop close to, or even below, zero. since the cave faces west the sun does not come in until the middle of the afternoon and during the morning the temperature rises very little. when the sun finally comes into the cave in the afternoon it brings a sudden warmth and for a couple of hours the people are almost comfortable.
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there are old men in the town who can remember when all of the people lived in pueblos on the mesa top and they never stop telling about those better days. the moment the sun came up in the morning the temperature began to rise and all through the day it warmed the open pueblos. the old men insist the people were happier then, the witches were less troublesome and there was less sickness. remembering those sunny days the old men mutter about the depressing shadows that chill cliff palace during the winter.
dozens of small fires burn constantly in the cave and those fires, in addition to the natural warmth of hundreds of closely crowded people, dull the sharpest edge of the cold. clothing is the final defense and as the severity of winter increases, more and more is worn.
cotton cloth, feather blankets and buckskin robes are worn in every conceivable manner except as actual tailored garments. the nearest approach to tailored clothing is an occasional slip-over buckskin jacket without sleeves. sometimes a robe is slit in the center and slipped, poncho-like, over the head. pieces of feather cloth, cotton cloth or buckskin are tied about the body as close-fitting jackets or draped, skirt-like, from the waist. large, soft feather blankets and buckskin robes are draped over the shoulders and drawn in about the body. short leggins are made of buckskin, or woven of human hair, to add to the comfort of the lower legs.
taken as a whole, they are a raggedy-looking crowd but the clothing does give protection against the cold. the people have tanned buckskin in abundance, there is considerable cotton cloth and each person has at least one feather robe. by utilizing these in every possible way the desired effect is achieved, even though neat tailoring is unknown.
shadowy though the cave may be, it is free of wind and snow and while complete comfort may seldom be attained, except in the kivas, most of the people become accustomed to the chill. but those who are naturally weak and those who are weakened by illness or age suffer greatly from the cold of winter.
there is less activity than during any other season. when the mesas are fairly clear of snow the men often go after firewood and they always keep enough on hand to last through a 119 long period of deep snow. when the people first moved into the cave, firewood was close at hand. the slope in front of the cave was covered with pinon and juniper trees and the mesa top above the cave was heavily forested. but now, after generations of use, there are no trees left near the town and the men must go far across the mesa top for firewood. this is a problem that always faces the people for during the winter vast amounts of wood are used. sometimes villages must be deserted because of the failure of the supply of firewood.
when the men bring the wood in from the mesa, they carry it to the top of the cliff at either end of the cave. after shouting to make sure no one is below, they hurl the logs over the cliff to crash on the rocks below. the shattering crash saves much chopping with stone axes and the women gather the splintered pieces and store them in the cave.
winter is a good season for hunting and when the snows are not too deep the young men often go out in search of deer and mountain sheep. deep snows on the high northern rim of the mesa have forced the animals down to the lower parts and the men do not have far to go for their game.
when they are not busy gathering wood and hunting, the men spend most of their time in the kivas. they have a decided advantage over the women and children in this one respect for the kivas are completely comfortable. being entirely underground, and with only the one small door in the roof, a kiva is kept perfectly warm by a small fire in the central firepit. fresh-air comes down the ventilator shaft to drive the smoke out through the door and the lower part of the room is never smoky. the floor is covered with mats and skins and the men loaf, sleep and work in perfect comfort. unmarried boys who have been initiated into the religious societies live in the kivas most of the time during the winter and the married men often sleep in them. they are far more comfortable than the houses.
women and children, having few kiva privileges, are forced to spend their time in the courts, where they huddle around the fires, and in the houses. few of the houses have fires inside for in the small, unventilated rooms the smoke is almost unbearable. sometimes an older person prefers the discomfort of smoke to the misery of the cold and a fire is built in a house. a smoky, soot-blackened room results.
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at night the women and children snuggle close together for warmth. the floor of the house is covered with skins, blankets and heavy mats woven of reeds, juniper bark or yucca fibers. sometimes deep, soft layers of corn shucks and tassels are spread on the floor and the blankets are spread on them. the last person into the room reaches back out through the door, picks up the thin sandstone door slab that is leaning against the wall, and fits it carefully into the opening. with the soft floor coverings and plenty of warm blankets and skins the closely-snuggled women and children spend the cold nights in comparative comfort.
during the warmer seasons the people arose at dawn but now they stay in bed until a much later hour. actually they are more comfortable in their beds and since there is no important work to be done, there is no need for early rising.
as soon as the women stir out of their blankets, they start the fires and when there is sufficient warmth the children crawl out to huddle about the flames. on each fire a large jar of water is heating and when it finally boils a special corn meal, which was made from fresh corn at harvest time, is stirred in. this makes a thin corn gruel and mugs of the nourishing hot drink are passed to the waiting children. by mid-morning the breakfast of corn bread and meat is ready and the men, most of whom have spent the night in the kiva, join their families around the fires. late in the afternoon the second meal of the day is served and it is always more elaborate; meat, corn bread, beans, and squash in various combinations, seasoned with dried fruits, roots and berries which were gathered in abundance during the fall. food is a most important factor in the fight against the rigors of winter and the women spend long hours around the cooking fires.
there is no water problem during the winter. ice and snow are brought in and melted and springs which have a southern exposure continue to flow. less water is needed than at any other season so the women spend very little time obtaining the necessary supplies. most of their time is occupied with corn grinding, cooking, and the care of the smaller children. occasionally a woman weaves a basket but pottery is seldom made during the cold season. principally, the women are occupied with keeping their families warm and well fed.
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for the men, winter is an easy time. once in a while they leave the cave to go hunting and wood gathering or to trot off to another village to gamble or witness a ceremony but for the most part they seldom stray far from their warm, comfortable kivas. there they work leisurely at their various crafts, producing the many things they need. winter is a fine time for weaving since it can be done in the kiva. many ceremonies are performed during the winter months, not only the regular ceremonies which are performed at exactly the same time each year, but countless healing ceremonies which are conducted whenever there is sickness in the town. winter is also a fine time for training the boys in ceremonial ways and there is much story-telling, singing and chanting as the boys broaden their religious background.
in the early winter one important ceremony is held when the priests “turn back the sun.” every day since early summer the sun has moved farther and farther south along the western horizon. at last, in late december, he has reached the point beyond which he must not be allowed to go. the priests know the spot well: it is on the horizon directly over a certain mark on the opposite canyon wall. when the sun reaches this spot each year the priests perform the ceremony that causes him to cease his southern journey and start back to the north again. if the priests fail to please the sun father, or if he is angry with the people, he will continue his journey to the south and perpetual cold and darkness will envelope the earth. never yet have the priests failed; always the sun has been pleased and after reaching that certain spot he has reversed and started back to the north to bring the long days and the warmth of summer.
when the sun watcher finds that the setting sun has reached the proper spot, the crier chief makes the announcement and the priests begin their ceremony. day after day it continues until they see that the sun has started back to the north. there is great rejoicing in cliff palace: the sun has heeded the prayers and is coming back. the happy people marvel at the power of their priests who have never failed in this important duty.
as winter progresses and the cold increases, witches become more and more active and there is much sickness in the 122 town. throughout the winter the medicine men and the medicine societies are busy in their efforts to counteract the evil powers of the witches who cause all serious diseases. minor ailments, which the people can understand, are not considered to result from witchcraft. if a person gets a grain of sand in his eye, if a child gets a bone caught in its throat, or if a child has a sudden stomach-ache from overeating, it is considered to be the natural result of something the people can see and understand. but the serious illnesses, which strike so mysteriously, are not natural and are considered to result from the evil practices of witches. only the medicine men, with their supernatural powers, can combat the witch-caused diseases and the medicine men and the medicine societies are busy with their healing ceremonies. during the winter witches always seem to be more active and as a result there is more sickness and death than at other times. the people are often uneasy and there is not the happiness which was so prevalent during the other seasons. it is not simply because there is sickness and suffering—it is more because of the fear which is in the hearts of the people. any person may be a witch and usually it is impossible to tell who is causing the trouble.
children suffer a great deal and all through the winter they sniffle and cough with colds. sometimes the colds settle in the sinuses, in the ears or even in the lungs, bringing complications against which the priests are powerless. often the end is slow in coming. when a cold settles in the middle ear and an abscessed mastoid results, the terrible agony may last for weeks before the inevitable result brings an end to the suffering. sometimes the end comes quickly and a mother hardly realizes that her baby is sick before it is gone.
many of the older people are suffering from the agony of decayed and abscessed teeth. all their lives they have been eating the gritty corn bread that has come from the soft grinding stones. as a result, their teeth are badly ground away; sometimes they are ground down to the gums. with the loss of the tooth enamel, decay has come and now aching and abscessed teeth are the result. here is an old fellow with a great cavity in each molar; half of them are throbbing with pain as the cold air hits the exposed nerves. here is an old man suffering the agony of three abscessed upper teeth; at night he walks the floor moaning with pain. this old fellow’s lower right canine 123 tooth developed a cystoid abscess; it has eaten through his cheek causing an ugly running sore on his face. in one house is an old woman who long ago lost all her teeth; years of chewing on her gums have caused them to recede until now her nose and chin almost touch. yonder is an old man who for months has had an aching molar. in order to ease the pain he has been chewing on the other side and now those teeth are so badly ground away that they too are aching. so it is throughout the city. decayed, abscessed and impacted teeth, pyorrhea and other dental ailments are common.
the medicine men have little success in their efforts to combat the agony of an aching or abscessed tooth. finally, if the patient can no longer bear the pain, the tooth is extracted and in this the suffering person has two choices. one method is to knock the tooth out. one end of a piece of bone or hard wood is placed against the base of the tooth and an obliging neighbor taps the other end sharply with a stone axe. instantly the tooth is gone! the other method of extraction is equally simple. a long, strong piece of sinew is obtained and one end is tied securely around the aching tooth. the other end of the sinew is tied to a large rock. then the rock is thrown away. and with it goes the tooth!
if the patient is unable to face the drastic extraction, the tooth is simply allowed to abscess and slough away. sometimes an aged person loses every tooth in this manner. one after another they abscess and slough out until at last the helpless victim is able to relax in the blessed state of painless toothlessness.
many of the people, especially the older ones, are suffering from rheumatism and arthritis. there are many specific causes but often it is merely the breakdown that comes from a life of exposure and hard work. the people age early and although there are a few very old men and women in the town the average life expectancy is low. before middle age is reached many are unable to bear their share of the work. limbs are swollen and stiffened with arthritis and rheumatism, and spines are stiffened or even partially or completely solidified with arthritis. when these conditions come, the bent and crippled oldsters seldom venture far from the cave. they are cared for and honored by their children and their clan relatives.
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in addition to the many diseases that afflict the people, there are often injuries. during the winter, snow and ice gather in the toe-holds on the cliffs and climbers, becoming momentarily careless, sometimes crash on the rocks below. fractured skulls, arms and legs result and their treatment gives the priests some of their most serious problems. compound fractures result in fatal infections and the medicine men can do little in the case of a serious fracture of the skull. simple fractures of the lower arm or leg are often treated successfully. thin splints of wood are bound to the limb to hold the bones in position and after the break has healed, full use of the member is often regained. a fracture of the upper arm or leg is seldom treated with success for the powerful muscles pull the bones out of the position and, if the victim survives, a crippled limb results. over in the north end of the town lives a young lady of nineteen who suffered an accident of this type. returning from the spring one day with a heavy jar of water on her head, she missed her step and fell over a low cliff. her left femur was broken just below the hip. instead of knitting properly, the broken ends of the bone slipped past each other and grew together side by side, with a two inch overlap. the young lady is able to hobble about with the aid of a crutch but her left leg is two inches shorter than the right.
the medicine men wage a constant battle against the diseases and injuries which afflict the people. against some of the diseases they have little success: it simply means that the witches who are to blame are too strong. in other cases the medicine man wins and the patient recovers. ailments which originate in the mind are common and are easily cured. since the people live in constant fear of witches, they often feel they have been bewitched by some evil person. this causes them to imagine strange ailments and the medicine men are called upon to counteract the evil spell. such ailments are easily treated for the patient’s faith in the medicine man and the constant promise of a cure soon drive away the imagined troubles.
when a person becomes ill, a family council is held and it is decided that a medicine man, or doctor, must be called. the father, or some male relative, mixes a small amount of corn meal with powdered turquoise and wraps it in a corn husk. this he takes to the medicine man and, placing it in his hand, tells him what is wanted. the medicine man agrees to come in 125 the evening. during the day the family prepares food, while the doctor prays and prepares his medicines. in the evening the doctor comes to the patient’s home and prepares for the examination. smearing ashes on his hands, as protection against witches, he removes the patient’s clothing and feels over his body, searching for the cause of the illness. upon completing his diagnosis, the doctor mixes a medicine of powdered herbs and water and gives it to the patient to drink. then, after assuring the patient that he will recover, the doctor leaves.
if, however, the patient fails to recover and grows worse, the entire medicine society is called in. again, the father takes corn meal and powdered turquoise to the medicine man and requests that the society perform a healing ceremony. if the patient’s condition is critical, the doctor agrees to bring the members of the society in the evening. if there seems to be no immediate emergency, he agrees to bring them after four days have passed.
during the four-day period, preparations are made. the priests pray and get their ceremonial equipment ready and each morning, in order to cleanse themselves, drink emetics that cause them to vomit. the family of the sick person prepares great quantities of food so the priests may be fed and all members of the family cleanse themselves by vomiting each morning. if the emetic does not cause vomiting, a long feather is thrust down the person’s throat until the desired result is obtained.
on the evening of the fourth day the patient is taken into the kiva of the medicine society. two men, armed with bows and arrows, are stationed outside the kiva to keep witches away. on the kiva floor the priests have made a small painting by using corn meal of different colors and around the painting are prayersticks, fetishes of the curing animals, rattles, eagle feathers, bags of herb medicines and other ceremonial equipment. upon entering the kiva, the patient sits down or, if he is very ill, lies down in front of the meal-painting.
the doctors, faces painted and wearing only their loincloths, are seated behind the painting. they are singing and the songs, which continue for some time, are an effort to induce the spirits of the curing animals, the mountain lion, bear, badger, wolf, eagle and shrew to enter the kiva. these animals have great 126 supernatural healing powers and their spirits must be present in the kiva. as the singing continues, two doctors step out and do a short dance, then another doctor comes forward to prepare the medicine. stirring some of the powdered herbs into a bowl of water, he ladles it out to the patient and all other persons in the kiva.
now it is time for the most important part of the ceremony: they must find the object which is causing the disease. one of the doctors rubs ashes on his hands and begins to search the patient’s body for the object which a witch has shot into it. after careful search, he locates the object and sucks it out of the patient’s body. spitting the object into his hand, he shows it to everyone. it is a centipede!
the doctors have also found that the patient’s heart has been stolen by witches and now they must get it back. two of the doctors smear themselves with ashes and, with stone knives in their hands, climb out of the kiva. soon the people hear sounds of fighting down on the trash pile in front of the cave. there are loud cries and the sounds of struggling, and blows being struck. then all is quiet and other doctors go out to bring the two back. one of the doctors is unconscious and must be carried into the kiva and both show the marks of a furious struggle. but they have recovered the patient’s heart—it is a little ball of rags. when the ball is cut open, a grain of corn is found in the center and this is given to the patient to swallow. now that he has recovered his heart he will soon be well.
the ceremony is over and as the patient returns to his home the doctors put away their ceremonial equipment. soon the women of the patient’s family bring food which they have prepared and the medicine men have a fine feast. baskets of corn meal are also brought to the medicine men in payment for the cure which they have effected.
at any time of the year there may be sickness in cliff palace but there is always the greatest amount in the winter. seldom during the cold season are the people entirely free from it. the medicine men carry out the prescribed ceremonies, sometimes succeeding, sometimes failing. when they effect a cure there is rejoicing but when they fail there is sadness in the city and the relatives of the unfortunate person are plunged into mourning.
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mummy of a basket maker woman
bodies were usually buried in a folded position
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very soon after death comes preparations are made for the burial. the body is bathed and the hair is washed. the arms are folded across the chest and tied together to hold them in position. the legs are folded up against the body. around the tightly-flexed body is wrapped a cotton blanket, then a large feather blanket. finally the bundle is wrapped in a piece of matting and is ready for burial.
there is no cemetery and the burial may be made anywhere. when the weather is good the bodies may be buried out on the mesa top or anywhere in the canyon. sometimes they are placed in crevices in the cliffs or in holes under large boulders. during the winter, when the ground is frozen and covered with snow, graves are often dug in the great trash pile in front of the cave. for generations the people have dumped their ashes and refuse there and it is not difficult to dig a grave in the soft, ashy material.
occasionally death comes when a severe storm is raging outside the cave. rather than face the storm the men of a burial party sometimes seal a body in an empty house or bury it in the trash room in the rear of the cave. the cave roof is too low for houses in that space so the long, low room is used as a trash room and turkey roost. when a body is buried there it is surrounded by perfectly dry materials such as ashes, dust, corn cobs, corn tassels and turkey droppings. the chill of winter prevents decay and the body begins to dry out. soon all moisture is gone and only the bones and dried tissues remain. if no moisture reaches it, the dry, mummy-like body will remain unchanged for centuries.
after the grave is dug the tightly-wrapped body is placed in it. food and water are placed in the grave, along with the personal possessions of the deceased; weapons, tools, jewelry and other articles which the spirit of the dead person will need in the afterworld. after the grave is filled with earth and rocks the members of the burial party return to their homes and purify themselves by washing their hair, vomiting and fumigating their clothing in smoke.
the spirit of the deceased does not leave the body for four days so each morning relatives place food and water on the grave. at sunrise on the fourth morning the spirit leaves the body and journeys back through sipapu, into the mother earth, 130 where the dead live in another world much like this one. as soon as the spirit is gone the relatives purify themselves and from this time on try not to speak of, or think of the dead person again. grieving may cause sickness so the dead are best forgotten.
the winter passes slowly. for those who are strong and active it has no terrors although it may cause a certain amount of discomfort. for those who are weak and sick it becomes an ordeal. at no time during the winter is cliff palace free from sickness and suffering and the spirits of the people are often low. in january the cold becomes more intense. scores of fires burn brightly in the great cave as the people attempt to drive out the cold. some nights the temperature falls very close to zero. high overhead hangs a brilliant white moon and the snowy canyon is almost as light as day. from the cliff near the great ceremonial building comes the wail of a coyote: from the mesa top comes the mournful hoot of an owl. the cave is quiet except for low chanting in some of the kivas and the snoring of old men. sometimes a baby whimpers or a sick person groans. now and then a muffled scream echoes through the cave as an aged sufferer cries out from the agony of arthritis or an abscessed tooth.
there is little travel during the coldest periods. the men forego their hunting and visiting and everyone stays close to the sheltering cave with the single idea of keeping warm and well. the city is quieter now: there is none of the boisterous gaiety that was so pronounced during the other seasons.
the men spend most of their time in the kivas while the women and children gather around the fires in the courtyards. the turkeys roost in the back of the cave at night and come out in the daytime to wander about the courts and roof-tops and fight with the dogs for scraps of food that are thrown to them. during periods when there is deep snow in the canyon, the turkeys are fed small amounts of the precious corn but in late winter they grow thin and bedraggled. when they are not roaming about the city searching for food they sit in quiet rows on the housetops, feathers fluffed against the cold. the turkeys are highly prized, both for their meat and for their feathers, but they lead a miserable existence. they do not thrive in the cold shadowy cave and the flocks usually are not large. not 131 only are they tormented by children and dogs but regularly they suffer the indignity of having their feathers plucked for use in ceremonies and in the manufacture of feather blankets.
as the end of winter draws near the food becomes more monotonous. many of the tastier foods are gone: the supplies of pinon nuts, dried fruits, roots, squash and dried berries are completely exhausted. now each meal consists of meat, corn bread and beans. sometimes the meat is fresh but usually it is meat that was dried last fall. this meat is as hard as rawhide and must be pounded with stones and thoroughly cooked before it can be eaten. in order to gain variety the women bake the corn bread in every possible way and corn meal, meat and beans are combined in numerous forms. still the food is monotonous and everyone longs for something green.
in february the snows become heavy and wet and in the latter part of the month there is rain. even though the rain does not come into the cave everything becomes damp. the days are getting warmer now and as a result a foul odor hangs over the city.
at any time of the year a strong odor of decaying animal and vegetable matter and human offal fills the cave. out in front is the great trash pile and in the rear is the trash room where the turkeys roost and where some of the dead are buried. in addition to this, the people have no idea of personal sanitation. in the warmer seasons they usually step outside the cave but in the winter they merely step back into the turkey roost or out on the front terraces.
because of this there is always a heavy odor about the city. in the summer it is not so bad for the women often sweep out the houses and courts and throw the trash out in front of the cave where the hot sun drys out the waste materials. in the winter there is less of this cleaning and the trash and filth accumulate. the dampness in the air causes mould and mustiness and when the warm wet days of late winter come the air is foul with the odor of decaying matter.
the people do not notice this odor. their first breath of life was like that and they merely think it is the way air smells.
as the end of winter draws near the cold grows less intense. there are still occasional snowstorms but they are warm and 132 wet and melt rapidly. the mesas are soggy with mud and small streams of water trickle over the cliffs as the snow disappears. the air is warm and balmy: during the middle of the day it is often hot. grass turns green in the sheltered spots and the buds on the shrubs begin to swell. chipmunks and squirrels come out of hibernation to greet the spring.
the people of cliff palace have been noting all of these signs and there is a stir of activity in the city as they throw off the cloak of winter. it was this promise of spring that helped them through. sometimes they have been cold and there has been sickness and death. at times there has been a heavy pall of sadness over the city. now all that is over for spring is in the air.
the people are happy and smiling as they bustle about preparing for the work that is ahead. the men think of their farms, the women think of making pottery, repairing and building houses, and arranging marriages. the children, turkeys and dogs think of nothing: they merely dash out of the shadowy cave into the warm spring sunshine.
our year with the people of cliff palace has ended. spring, summer, autumn and winter have passed. now spring has arrived to start the eternal cycle all over again.
