The Medicine-Men of the Apache. (1892 N 09 / 1887-1888...

The articles of dress depicted in this paper are believed to represent all those which exclusively belong to the office of the Apache "diyi" or "izze-nantan." Of late years it can not be said that every medicine-man has all these articles, but most of them will be found in the possession of the man in full practice.

No matter what the medicine-man may lack, he will, if it be possible, provide himself with some of the impure malachite known to the whites of the Southwest as turquoise. In the malachite veins the latter stone is sometimes found and is often of good quality, but the difference between the two is apparent upon the slightest examination. The color of the malachite is a pea green, that of the turquoise a pale sky blue. The chemical composition of the former is a carbonate of copper, mixed with earthy impurities; that of the latter, a phosphate of alumina, colored with the oxide of copper. The use of this malachite was widespread. Under the name of chalchihuitl or chalchihuite, it appears with frequency in the old Spanish writings, as we shall presently see, and was in all places and by all tribes possessing it revered in much the same manner as by the Apache. The Apache call it duklij, "blue (or green) stone," these two colors not being differentiated in their language. A small bead of this mineral affixed to a gun or bow made the weapon shoot accurately. It had also some relation to the bringing of rain, and could be found by the man who would go to the end of a rainbow, after a storm, and hunt diligently in the damp earth. It was the Apache medicine-man's badge of office, his medical diploma, so to speak, and without it he could not in olden times exercise his medical functions.

In the curious commerce of the Indian tribes, some possessed articles of greater worth than those belonging to their neighbors. In the southwest the red paint sold by the tribes living in the Grand Canyon of the Colorado was held in higher repute than any other, and the green stone to be purchased from the Rio Grande Pueblos always was in great demand, as it is to this day. Vetancurt[723] speaks of the Apache, between the years 1630 and 1680, coming to the pueblo of Pecos to trade for "chalchihuites." John de Laet speaks of "petites pierres verdes" worn in the lower lip by the Brazilians.[724]

Among the Mexicans the chalchihuitl seems to have been the distinguishing mark or badge of the priesthood. Duran, in speaking of the consecration of a sacrificial stone in Mexico by Montezuma the elder, and his assistant or coadjutor, Tlacaclel, says: "Echáronse á las espaldas unas olletas [I do not know what this word means] hechas de piedras verdes muy ricas, donde significaban que no solamente eran Reyes, pero juntamente Sacerdotes."[725]

One of the Mexican myths of the birth of Quetzalcoatl narrates that his mother, Chimalma, while sweeping, found a chalchihuitl, swallowed it, and became pregnant: "Andando barriendo la dicha Chimalma halló un chalchihuitl, (que es una pedrezuela verde) y que la tragó y de esto se empreñó, y que así parió al dicho Quetzalcoatl."[727] The same author tells us that the chalchihuitl (which he calls "pedrezuela verde") are mentioned in the earliest myths of the Mexicans.[728]

In South America the emerald seems to have taken the place of the chalchihuitl. Bollaert[729] makes frequent mention of the use of the emerald by the natives of Ecuador and Peru, "a drilled emerald, such as the Incas wore;" "large emeralds, emblematic of their [the Incas'] sovereignty."

"Whenever rain comes the Indians [Pima and Maricopa] resort to these old houses [ruins] to look for trinkets of shells, and a peculiar green stone."[731] The idols which the people of Yucatan gave to Juan de Grijalva in 1518 were covered with these stones, "cubierta de pedrecicas."[732] Among the first presents made to Cortes in Tabasco were "unas turquesas de poco valor."[733] The fact that the Mexicans buried a "gem" with the bodies of their dead is mentioned by Squier, but he says it was when the body was cremated.[734]

"The Mexicans were accustomed to say that at one time all men have been stones, and that at last they would all return to stones; and, acting literally on this conviction, they interred with the bones of the dead a small green stone, which was called the principle of life."[737]

The great value set upon the chalchihuitl by the Aztecs is alluded to by Bernal Diaz, who was with the expedition of Grijalva to Yucatan before he joined that of Cortes to Mexico.[738] Diaz says that Montezuma sent to Charles V, as a present "a few chalchihuis of such enormous value that I would not consent to give them to any one save to such a powerful emperor as yours."[739] These stones were put "in the mouth of the distinguished chiefs who died."[740]

Torquemada[741] repeats the Aztec myth already given from Mendieta. He says that in 1537 Fray Antonio de Ciudad-Rodrigo, provincial of the Franciscans, sent friars of his order to various parts of the Indian country; in 1538 he sent them to the north, to a country where they heard of a tribe of people wearing clothes and having many turquoises.[742] The Aztec priesthood adopted green as the sacred color. The ceremony of their consecration ended thus: "puis on l'habillait tout en vert."[743]