THE COCOPA INDIANS.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 696, 6 October 1909, Page 6

THE COCOPA INDIANS.

A Primitive Afrrfcnltaral Folk of the Lower Colorado and Their Csrtoas, The Cocopa Indians of the lower Colorado (in both Baja California and Sonora) are «»f interest partly because they have practically escaped attention on the part of scientific investigators until within a few months, and partly because of the customs which distinguish them from most neighboring tribes. They are essentially an agricultural folk, though their agriculture is of the most primitive sort, affording, indeed, a better picture of prehistoric agricultural methods thatthose of any other known tribe, says the New York Tribune. Their customs well illustrate, too, the dependence of primitive* industries, modes of life, and even habits of thought, on surronndinga; for. like the fellaheen of the lower Nile, they are creatures of the river along which they live, driven from the bottom lands by the annual freshets, and brought back by ensuing dronghts to plant anew in the soil fertilized by the annual silt deposit. Perhaps of primary interest among "'trir customs is their disposal of the d-nd. They not only distribute the property of the deceased among nonrrtalives, but burn the body,and lb*habitation together. A considera**' - •Jtrt of the tribal lore is connected vith the mortuary custom; and ci: - torn and lore together afford remarkable insight, into the esoteric life of primitive peoples.

?l>w Itritlnh Colnagrc. The portrait of King Edward VIT. -n the new I'.ritisli coinage will show Itis profile turning to the right. It i.n Tradition that the head of the sovi rrisrn should always turn in the re-w-r-e way from that of his predecessor. Thus George llr. looked to th.r'azht. George IV. to the left. Williav: IV. to the ritfht, and Queen Victoria to the left. , ___ ' Sfekk. Virtues of Snow. "" The Tslue of snow as a mamirint agent, and also as a purifier of the air has been demonstrated by some extwimpnth made in London Oi e ir.vlii»i have ie u j>!a;. Ed by one jKison on a piano if* iwc ve liours. In Tiveitor. it- a lncfi-worl.tr who bas worked for the rauie fi • f 6*veuty-C-e yeaig.