DOWN THE MESA TO SCHOOL

Bruce Herald, Volume XXXX, Issue 97, 16 December 1904, Page 3

DOWN THE MESA TO SCHOOL

Curious Met* VNmtod by thm Ghildrmn at tb« Xoqui -_odtanTrilw. If we stood abovt seven o'clock in the morning nearthefootof tbe Oraiba mesa in Arizona we should see a. moat interesting eight, relates a writer in the New iTork Sun. The fiftt-Jopped elevation* called mesas aire Tery common features of the arid plains of Arisona. Some of them have for agee been the homes of Indian tribes whose enemies could not easily , teach the tops of these big rocks, I and co those who lived on them were comparatively safe. This particular mesa Is the home of the Oraibi branch of the Moqui tribe. Perched hjgh in the air on their little plateau, the elders atill practice the snake dance and other famous rites of • their fathers. | Only a few years ago they were : called hostile because they opi posed more strenuously than the other Moquis the introduction of I white influences among them. i When it was proposed to erect a ; schoolhouse near the base of the ' mesa, and to place all the children in the school, the parents stubbornly refusing to permit it. They j yielded finally, however, to firm | pressure, and every child of school age was placed in the school. j The enterprise has been a great i success, and whoever stands near ! the school at seven o'clock in the i morning and looks up at the plaj teau 500 feet above hum suddenly soes children begin to spill over the edge of the mesa. One child comes into view behind another, and soon the faoe of the great rock is alive with them as they descend the steep zigsag path leading to the bottom of the mesa and ; the school. The sight interests visitors bocause it is so unusual. The little folk seem to be hanging to the wall of the mighty rock as thejslowly descend its face. They keep pouring over the edge and the head of the line has reached the school on the plain below before the last of it leaves the top of the mesa. When the straggling line comes fully into view it is seen to be nearly half a mile long, and its convolutions on the path bear some resemblance to the movements of a snake. There are 175 children in this school, and in attendance it is said to head the list of Indian day schools in the country. Aiflrie new building costing over $3,000 has taken the place of the first school, i and it is said that after once being placed there, wearing the new clothes provided for every pspil, they never miss a day.