a local product, developed in independent tribes by their
peculiar environment, which is favorable to agriculture and
sedentary pursuits.[8]

[8] The American Race, by D. G. Brinton, 1891.


The houses are constructed of stone and adobe, are several
stories high and contain many apartments. None of the existing
pueblos are as large as some that are in ruins which, judging by
the quantity of debris, must have been huge affairs. Since the
advent of the Spaniard the style of building has changed somewhat
to conform to modern ideas, so that now some families live in
separate one-story houses having doors and windows, instead, as
formerly, only in large communal houses that were built and
conducted on the communal plan.

Their manners and customs are peculiar to themselves and make an
interesting study. Their civilization is entirely original,
though modified to some extent by centuries of contact with the
whites. They understand the Spanish language, but have not
forgotten their mother tongue. They hold tenaciously to their
old customs and have not changed materially during the past four
hundred years.

During that time the Catholic missionaries endeavored to convert
them to Christianity, but with only partial success. While they
appeared to acquiesce, by giving formal obedience to the
requirements of the new religion, they yet held sacred their old
beliefs and in the privacy of the estufa practiced in secret the