bajalera
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Baja California Indians
Excerpt from Brown Skins/Black Robes, a manuscript I'm working on [pardon the lack of accents]:
The bias in some early-day accounts of the Indians is not always obvious. For example, it's not unusual for a report to say that an exploring party
consisted of "fifteen Spanianrds, some Indians, and eight mules." Spaniardsand mules were apparently considered worth country but Indians were not
(although readers of Native American ancestry may be the only ones to recognize this as an insult).
Uncounted Indians, along with somewhat more obvious racism, appear in a letter written by the founder of the peninsula's first mission system, who
reported that a road had been opened from Loreto toMission San Javier.
Nine soldiers and "some" friendly Indians--directed by a captain who had opened roads through rugged regions on the mainland, and accmpanied by a
Jesuit--worked with picks, crowbars, axes and spades in widening a road that skirted towering cliffs and plunged into deep ravines.The area was
strewn with so many sharp rocks that the men's shoes wore out and had to be resoled.
One day they came to a place where it was obvious that completing the project was going to take several months. While the men in charge were trying to
figure out what to do, "an Indian from Vigge came and said it was more practical to make the road on the other side. Don Cristobal Guitierrez and
soldier Melchor de Luna accompanied the Indian, and later in walking a little ways they found the trail, and on seeing it recognized the great
advantage of opening the road through there in three days instead of three months."
Yes, Guitierrez and Luna "found the trail" and "recognized the great advantage" of the alternate route--after it had been pointed out to them by an
Indian from Vigge. Knowing nothing of road-building, this man had watched the strangers at work, had visualized what they were trying to do, and was
able to recognize another site as being a better place to do it.
As thought processes go, those of this unschooled engineer-without-portfolio were quite remarkable. So they baptized and Indian from Vigge, bestowing
on him the name they deemed appropriate: Angel. For the problem he had solved was so complex that no mere mortal could have done this on his own. The
man had obviously been sent to them by Divine Intervention from on high. (Although it seems fair to ask: If this problem-solver had been blessed with
white skin, blonde hair and blue eyes, would God have found it necessary to butt in?
\"Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest never happen at all. The conscientious historian will correct these defects.\" -
Mark Twain
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Osprey
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Lera, great stuff. In your research, did you run across any useful info on the Laimon or Monki Indians? I couldn't find much on them at all.
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bajajudy
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Thanks, Lera
Muy interesante
Keep 'em coming
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Gnome-ad
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Write on!
Thanks, Lera ~
I always find your writings about the Indians of Baja to be interesting and informative.
I am currently reading a history ("Memory of Fire" a trilogy by Eduardo Galeano) that also points out the many uncounted Indians everywhere in the
Americas. The hubris of some of the “conquerors” is appalling. I’m grateful people like you are willing to wade through all the research required to
bring these incidents to light these many years later. Keep up the great work!
Edited to add name of trilogy
[Edited on 9-26-2007 by Gnome-ad]
The only normal people are the ones you don't know very well. - Ancis
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Eli
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Thanks Lee, I look forward to your perspectives, the only problem is they always leaving me wanting more. Hope, soon you will grace with another of
your gems. Saludos, Sara
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amir
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Looking forward to the book... Thank you for teasing us with little stories like this one...
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bacquito
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Maybe one of you-Bajalera,Osprey can help me out. How did the name of the town of Yuma come about? I have heard that it derived from humo (smoke) and
other people simply don't know. Could it be that it derived from the ancient tribe of Baja indians collectively known as Yumanos?
The museum in Ensenada at the Riviera goes into some detail on the Baja indian tribes and it discusses the Yumanos.
bacquito
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John M
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Name Yuma
Arizona Place Names by Will C. Barnes, revised in 1960 by Byrd Granger, page 366 provides this:
"There has been some confusion regarding the origin of the name Yuma. It seems probable that it does not, as has been suggested, reflect the title of
a hereditary chief Yahmayo ("son of the captain"), but that the word Yuma derives from the habit this tribe had of making huge fires to induce rain,
creating a trememdous amount of smoke in the process, and that their name in consequence comes from the Old Spanish word umo, meaning smoke."
In the event you wish more detail from Granger just ask, there are several additional paragraphs I can copy here for you.
John
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bacquito
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| Quote: | Originally posted by John M
Arizona Place Names by Will C. Barnes, revised in 1960 by Byrd Granger, page 366 provides this:
"There has been some confusion regarding the origin of the name Yuma. It seems probable that it does not, as has been suggested, reflect the title of
a hereditary chief Yahmayo ("son of the captain"), but that the word Yuma derives from the habit this tribe had of making huge fires to induce rain,
creating a trememdous amount of smoke in the process, and that their name in consequence comes from the Old Spanish word umo, meaning smoke."
In the event you wish more detail from Granger just ask, there are several additional paragraphs I can copy here for you.
John |
Thanks
bacquito
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Iflyfish
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Great stuff, keep it coming.
Iflyfish
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bacquito
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As I recall my visit to the museum at the Riviera, the Yumanos were an ancient group of indigenous baja indians from which the Cocopahs in Yuma and
other northern Baja tribes evolved. It seems logical that the name came from local tribes such as the Cocopahs.
The museum at the Riviera is worth visiting .
Thanks for the interest.
bacquito
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shari
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Mood: there is no reality except the one contained within us "Herman Hesse"
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Have you heard anything about the race of "giants"...whose large bones were found around the gray whale sanctuary Ojo de Liebre near Guerrero Negro?
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David K
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11 foot human bones dug up 10 miles south of San Ignacio
| Quote: | Originally posted by shari
Have you heard anything about the race of "giants"...whose large bones were found around the gray whale sanctuary Ojo de Liebre near Guerrero Negro?
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Shari, the only place I recall reading about giants in Baja (other than Indian legends explaing how the cliffs were painted) was in Cliff Cross' 1974
edition of his Baja Guidebook...
Let me look it up and try and post the part of the page with that...
Okay, read 'Once Land of Giants?' just below the update note on San Ignacio (page 5-A of the '74 edition)...
(this may be interesting enough to post a new thread about?)
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shari
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Mood: there is no reality except the one contained within us "Herman Hesse"
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WEll I didn't read this but it is one of those campfire stories told to me by the locals there...but there was trade and contact between san ignacio
and these parts so sound like the giants did exist around here....cool! Our house sits on a once well used obsidian tool making shop...there are chips
everywhere around here and I've found some nice little complete arrowheads too as have visiting kids...neato eh.
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Osprey
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The giant bone turned out to be a rib bone of a camelid, ancient camels which once roamed this area. The first was found south of San Ignacio and
since then several others have been found, verified and age-dated.
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bajalera
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Good question Jorge, but I haven't got an answer. Didiu and Monqui both seem to have disappeared early on. Jesuit Miguel del Barco, who arrived around
1730, said he had never heard this word used on the peninsula, although he had read it in reports. Somewhere I've read that Concho, the site of
Loreto, was a Monqui village.
Everyone else: Thanks for the encouragement.
Does anybody think God should be lending a hand instead of butting in [which is probably a sacrilege]?
\"Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest never happen at all. The conscientious historian will correct these defects.\" -
Mark Twain
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bajabum
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A few years back I went on an Indian cave painting tour in Mulege. The guide was a gringo named Carey who used to own the El Candil resteraunt (looked
kinda like Santa Claus). It was a full day trip that started off with a 4 wheel drive trip out to a ranch. Then a 2-3 mile hike to a river where we
swam another mile or so. The river was like a miniature grand canyon and must have been spring fed because it was kinda cold. We then visited several
cave painting sites and I remember him saying something about the Cuchimi Indians who were supposed to have been giants...7-8 feet tall. Dont know
weather that was true or not but the history of their anual migrations from the Pacific to the Cortez at different times of the year foraging for food
delicacies from cactus fruits to scallops and fish was very interesting. Finished the day back at the ranch for a home cooked lunch and cold Coronas.
Very cool adventure.
Work is just something I do to keep me buzy between baja trips!
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David K
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Osprey
The giant bone turned out to be a rib bone of a camelid, ancient camels which once roamed this area. The first was found south of San Ignacio and
since then several others have been found, verified and age-dated. |
Thanks!!! It's nice to have some closure on these old reports...
I still want to know what happened to all the condors on Diablo Mountain the Sierra Club reported in 1970!?? Newer stories say the last condor in Baja
died in 1936 or thereabouts... ??? another thread topic for sure!
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