The Pima Indians/Esthetic arts/Personal decoration
ESTHETIC ARTS
Personal Decoration
The Pimas of to-day are rapidly adopting the personal adornments of their civilized neighbors. With the exception of the manner of treating the hair, the old methods of enhancing personal beauty have been almost entirely abandoned. Judging from the statements made by the old people, this art could never have reached the development among the Pimas that it did among the Pueblos. Their status recalls that of the Yuman tribes on the great river to the westward.
Pride of person manifested itself among the men in the care of the hair and the elaboration of the designs painted upon the skin. Feathers and beads were also worn in abundance. When through uncleanly habits a man became too filthy his associates said "skulof," "He smells like an old man." But the whole tribe has a characteristic odor that is easily detected by the nasal organs of the whites; even the school children who are regularly bathed and well clothed exhibit this characteristic.
HAIR
Men wore their hair long (see pl. XLIII, c); that of the old chief Tiahiatam reached to his heels when he stood upright, but usually the hair fell about to the waist. At the age of 20 the young men began to braid or twist their hair into skeins, which retained the hairs shed—and other things besides—a marvelously convenient abiding place for microbes. It was the fashion to wear the skeins cut squarely across at the bottom, and they did not scruple to piece out their shorter locks with hair from the tails of their horses. Sometimes, indeed, they even added the hair of their women, who trimmed their hair in mourning for lost relatives. The skeins were from 1 to 2 cm, in diameter; the hair of one old man, purchased from him, is 1.1 m. long; one of the skeins has been broken in the middle and tied in a hard knot. Such flowing locks could not, of course, be worn unconfined at all times; they were usually wound around the head and inclosed beneath a headband or by a cord of variegated colors (pl. XLIII, a; see also fig. 75). The earlocks that are the pride of so many tribes were sometimes braided by the Pimas and ornaments of shell, bone, and, later, tin and scarlet cloth, were tied to them. The front hair was cut squarely across the forehead.
The eyelashes and eyebrows were not tampered with, but the scanty beard was plucked out with tweezers. The hair of children was formerly "cut" with a burning brand whenever it reached their shoulders, in order that it might grow more abundantly. The portion cut off was mixed with mud and plastered on the head again for a few hours that it might improve the growth of the new hair. It was an evil omen if the child should chance to touch the hair just cut from his head, for was it not a sign that he would steal the sacred salt?
Women wore their hair long, but not twisted into skeins as was that of the men, and, furthermore, they were accustomed to cut it in mourning to a much greater extent than the men, so that it never attained extreme length. When at work it was twisted up on the head in a temporary coil that was confined by any convenient cord or bit of cloth. Unless engaged in vigorous exercise, as grinding with the metate, the older women allowed their hair to hang loose (pl. XXXVIII, a, XLVI, c). The front hair was trimmed to fall just clear of the eyes, as in same plate, b. Incidentally, it thus protected the eyes from the sun, though it is questionable how far the originators of the fashion were conscious of this useful purpose. Above all else the hair was the pride of Pima women; twice at least each day it was brushed until it shone in smooth, ebony waves that were ever luxuriantly abundant. "Every once in a while," or about once a week, the hair was treated to a mud bath made by mixing black river mud with mesquite gum and allowing the plaster to remain over night (pl. XXXVIII, c). Sometimes the gum was diluted with warm water and applied as a wash before the mud was laid on. The mud killed the vermin and cleansed the hair as does soap. The gum is believed to darken the hair and prevent it from growing gray. The Pimas declare that when widows mourn for four years without washing their hair it becomes a rusty red from being burned by the sun. The method of cleaning the hair above described is still practised, even by the younger generation. NAILS
Finger nails were bitten off when they reached a troublesome length. The nails of the toes received little attention, and in old persons to-day they are seen of inordinate length, curled over the ends of the toes.
TEETH
Many brown teeth were seen, but no satisfactory information was obtained as to the cause. All agreed that the red berry of Licium fremontii would temporarily blacken the teeth, but as the Kwahadkʽs and Papagos, who do not eat this berry, have the darkened teeth, some other cause must be sought. Rumex berlandieri, Rumex hymenosepalus, and a thorny weed called by the Pimas sâitûkam iavak are also said to blacken the teeth. Charcoal was used to clean the teeth before the advent of the whites, and the practice is still continued.
PAINTING
In bags of deerskin or cloth (fig. 77,a, b) bright-hued ochers, and other minerals were kept with which to paint the face and body.[1] Baby Pima had his face painted immediately after birth with red ocher mixed with his mother's milk "to improve his skin." Thereafter the paint was mixed with grease or the grease was applied to the skin first and the paint was added. In cold weather the grease and color were applied to prevent chapping and even for the sake of warmth. Usually the face alone was painted, but during festivals and on other special occasions the entire body was painted. On dress occasions the lines on the face were made much narrower, and instead of being applied with the hands the color was laid on with a splinter or twig of arrowwood 2 mm. wide by 80 mm. long. Both men and women painted their bodies and both used the same colors on their faces, but in different proportions. The men used more black and were especially careful to intensify the tattoo marks. The women also emphasized the tattooing, and there were black lines, therefore, under the eyes of both sexes, showing that the permanent embellishment was regarded as especially significant.
The designs were simple vertical and transverse lines, as shown in plate XXXVIII, d. The paint was not often washed off, but additional lines were added as the design became effaced. Each person painted his own face and used an olla of water as a mirror. The men painted the hair of the frontal region either white or red in preparing for a dance, and never both colors at the same time. The women painted their hair in spots and bands of white.
Besides the yellow ocher obtained from the Skâsŏwalĭk hills (pl. XVI, a), the yellow pollen of the cat-tail, Typha angustifolia Linn., was used. Red was obtained from the Mohaves, and in recent years from the Yumas. From the latter also was bartered the bluish black specular iron ore that glistened on the warrior's cheeks. Red and white were brought by the Papagos from out of the vast desert to the southward, the mineral resources of which are yet scarcely known to the invading race. Lastly, diamond dyes were used to some extent, but their day was short, for now no Pima paints at all. Indeed, it was with difficulty that two persons could be hired to paint their faces that the writer might photograph them.
If in the pristine period of Pimerían history the lines upon the rich brown skins were meant to symbolize the thought or fancy of the artists, no knowledge of the fact has survived the vicissitudes of war and strife through the centuries. To-day they are meaningless and to-morrow will have been forgotten.
TATTOOING
Both men and women did the work, but the female artist was preferred, as "she was more careful." Their fees were small and uncertain, as the operation was not one calculated to expand the heart of the victim and induce him to pay generously. The lines were drawn on the face first in dry charcoal, then some of the powdered charcoal was mixed with water, and the thorns were dipped into this and pricked into the skin along the outlines. As the operation progressed the face was frequently washed to see if the color was being well pricked in. Two operations were necessary, though it sometimes took more; one operation occupied an entire day. For four days thereafter the face remained swollen, and throughout that period the wound was rubbed with charcoal daily. At the end of that time a wash of squash seeds macerated in water was applied. Some times the lips were slow in healing and the individual was compelled to subsist upon pinole, as the swollen lips and chin forbade partaking of solid food; during this time the squash applications were continued.
The men were tattooed along the margin of the lower eyelid and in a horizontal line across the temples. Tattooing was also carried across the forehead, where the pattern varied from a wavy transverse line to short zigzag vertical lines in a band that was nearly straight from side to side. Occasionally a band was also tattooed around the wrist.
The women had the line under the lids, as did the men; but instead of the lines upon the forehead they have two vertical lines on each side of the chin, which extended from the lip to the inferior margin of the jaw and were united by a broad bar of tattooing, which included the whole outer third of the mucous membrane of the lip on either side.
The tattooing was done between the ages of 15 and 20; not, it would seem, at the time of puberty, but at any time convenient to the individual and the operator. Oftentimes a bride and groom were tattooed just after marriage. All the older Pimas are tattooed, but the young people are escaping this disfigurement. As in the case of painting, the practice of the art is passing away and the meaning of the designs is unknown. The Pimas aver that the lines prevent wrinkles; thus fortified they "retain their youth." The purely apocryphal theory that the women about to be married have their lower eyelids tattooed, that they may thereafter "look at no man except their husband," is untenable, as we shall see when we come to study their marriage customs. ORNAMENTS
Both sexes, but especially the men, wore strands of beads suspended from their ear lobes and necks. The beads and gorgets were of disks cut from seashells, stone, more or less wrought, bone carved and decorated, small deer bones without other manipulation than drilling, and turquoise, which was usually rubbed into flat rectangular pendants. Upon the arms of the women and on the right arm of the men were bracelets of similar materials. The men wore on the left arm a soft coyote skin wrist guard or one of rawhide for the bowstring. Large beads of blue Venetian glass were brought by the earliest Spanish missionaries, and are now to be found scattered about the sacred places of the Pimas.
"A very brave man" pierced the septum of his nose and wore therein a skewer of neatly polished bone, or else suspended from it a bit of turquoise or a shell. Two men yet living in the Santan village have pierced noses, though they long ago abandoned the practice of wearing anything in them. Indeed, all the old-time ornaments have been abandoned, and the Pimas exhibit a marked contrast to the bead-covered Navahos and other tribesmen.
The men ornamented their long rope-like locks with the soft breast feathers of the eagle, turkey, or other large bird. The war headdresses were of eagle, hawk, and owl wing feathers. We secured one that contained the hair of an Apache warrior in addition to the feathers (fig. 40).
Contestants in the relay and distance races wore an ornament in their hair that suggests those of the Yumas, which in turn resemble the "eyes" of the Huichols.[2]
The women twined in their hair coronets of sunflowers or of corn husks, in recent years colored red or blue by boiling with calico.
- ↑ Upon the four samples of face paint that were collected at Sacaton and submitted for analysis the following report was received: "It was found that with the exception of traces of manganese in 24884 and 24887 the color of these substances is due to varying amounts of iron as modified by the presence of and combination with other substances which by themselves possess practically no coloring power.
"The percentages of iron (calculated as ferric oxide) found in these samples are as follows:
No. 24883. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6.13 No. 24884. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.28 No. 24885. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13.87 No. 24887. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9.62 - ↑ Such an ornament was made for the writer's collection by Sikaʼtcu of arrowwood with four hooks of devils' claw attached to it with sinew. The hooks are arranged in the same plane and curved downward as shown in figure 79. The upper pair are wound with blue strings terminating with buff at the tips. Total length, 237 mm.; spread of hooks, 170 mm.