Page 129 - TheHopiIndians

MESA FOLK OF HOPILAND 121

fully conscious of his presence. Should a rain fill the
water holes on the mesa the children have great sport
bathing, splashing around like ducks and chasing one
another. This must be a rare treat to the children,
because, like Christmas, the good fortune of a rain
water bath may come but once a year.
Wherever the grown people go, the children go
along, berrying, gathering grass and yucca for bas
kets, or seeds of the wild plants for food, watching
the confield, or gathering the crops, each having a
little share in the work and a good portion of amuse
ment. One soon sees that the children of the Hopi
help in everything that is going on and take care not
to hinder. If a house is being built, the little ones
work as hard as their elders, carrying in their bas
kets a tiny load of stones or earth for the building
with an earnestness that is really amusing. Outside
of the Hopi towns one usually finds a number of in
scriptions in picture writing on the rocks. Besides
the inscriptions there are many cup-shaped depressions
that have puzzled more than one visitor. One day
some children were seen hammering diligently on the
rocks with hand-stones, and it was found that they
were digging cup-cavities in the soft sandstone, per
haps making tiny play-reservoirs to catch rain water.
The children may also be responsible for many of the
queer pictures that adorn the smooth sides of the rocks
around the villages; and who knows but that many
ancient inscriptions on the Arizona rocks were cut
by childish hands.