Reports indicated that in March 1855, Indians of the Nambe Pueblo in New Mexico butchered three men and one woman of their village, most horribly, for alleged witchcraft. Over the years, several reports were made regarding Zuni witchcraft and its punishment. When the United States obtained New Mexico and other areas of the southwest, Indian agents were sent out to monitor the Indians and attempt to change their culture. After the Pueblo Revolt, the Spanish relaxed their restrictions on the Pueblo culture, and the belief in witchcraft continued. Though the Spanish, when they ruled the Southwest, tried to change the culture of the Pueblo tribes, including their belief in witchcraft, they were unsuccessful. If the accused revealed the source of his/her power, he might be released or, at least, saved from execution. If the accused was found guilty, he was hung by the wrists and tortured until he confessed. The Bow Priests were also responsible for examining the accused and reviewing the evidence. Because the council was supposed to be removed from any violence, the Bow Priests, who were associated with war, enforced their decisions. The Council of High Priests decided who the witches were, and the Bow Priests were tasked for their executions. At one point, witchcraft among the Zuni was the only recognized crime. Further, any disharmony among the people or infractions of proper behavior were also equated with witchcraft. Further, they had to continually kill or perish themselves.īecause of this requirement to continually kill, witchcraft was blamed for any disaster of magnitude, like droughts, epidemic diseases, or floods. Rather, they had to live on the unexpired lives of their victims by capturing or indoctrinating their souls. The Tewa believed that witches accompany people daily and are defined as those “of a different breath.” However, they had a different physical and spiritual existence, not like “common” humans. In fact, the concept of a witch was tied to the concepts of life and human origin, with the people believing that witches existed alongside humans and not apart from other living beings. Magical powers were not always differentiated as good or evil, with the people using their magical skills for several purposes. According to oral tradition, a pair of witches came up from the underworld bringing the people two gifts: death to keep the world from becoming overcrowded and corn to feed the people. For the Zuni, the belief in witchcraft goes back to their earliest times, included in Zuni creation myths. Full text can be downloaded at (2017)_Dogs_in_California_Aboriginal_ many other indigenous tribes of the United States, the Zuni believed in magic and witchcraft. After the arrival of European cultures they began to disappear as distinct types. They had roles in myths, and creation stories often indicate that they and humans descended from the first beings and that they could at one time talk with and even mate with humans. Two different morphotypes of small dogs are attested for some areas. Both large and small dogs are found in archeological digs and during the historical period, with some tribes having dogs of both sizes. Although frequently compared to wolves, coyotes and even foxes by early travelers, interbreeding with other canids was likely far less frequent than initially supposed. Most of the tribes of California had dogs, though there was considerable variation as to whether and how they were used in hunting, what prey they might find and pursue, whether they were given training, which was most common for dogs used in driving deer and elk, whether they were never eaten, eaten occasionally in certain ceremonies, or eaten regularly as a matter of course, whether they were fed or relegated to eating refuse and waste, if and how they were sheltered, whether they were sacrificed and buried on the death of their owners, whether they received separate burials with grave goods, and whether the tribe had a breeding population of dogs or received them in trade.
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