TONGUE OF CORTEZ TIME.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12064, 20 July 1917, Page 8

TONGUE OF CORTEZ TIME.

INDIANS OF SOUTHERN MEXICO "WHO ADHERE TO OLD CUSTOMS BER KELEY, California. Dr Paul Radin, Ph.D., member of thn Canadian Geological Survey, and former l'eliow of Harvard and Columbia Universities in Indian Research, has just arrived here from an exploration voyage, part ol which consisted in studying unknown tribes and customs of Indians in Southern Mexico. Dr Radiu spent a. good deal of his time in the State of Oaxaca in tho southern part oi Mexico. Among tho interesting things which he discovered there was that the language spoken at the time of Cortez in the sixteenth century is still spoken. The Indians in this region number in the millions. Though they have given up most o: their old customs, their language is still intact. Dr Radiu said thaiTthey have influenced the Spanish language in neighbouring territory rather than having their own language affected by the Spanish. "These people in the State of Oaxaca. are descendants from the Zapotecs, a highly civilised race of Indians, said I>r Radin. '' Among tho curiViis things 1 saw was the use of a whistling language. The people give directions by whistling. The idea is not to have word tor each whistle, but a thistle, for a whole sentence. For example, ■Ts John at home?' would lie illustrated by one whistle. Names can be whistles. Pueblos arecalled out in musical tones.

Ivicu pueblo is distinguished from the other by its moccasins, its sombreros and its belts. Otherwise theso tribes _ wear clothes like civilised communities. They do not paint and they have big cities.

"In studying the language and mythology.of tho people, ] found that' half of it is European mythology, borrowed from the. Spaniards and put into its ov. 11. Spanish culture ha.s undergone sufficient remodelling to make it entirely different. The old beliefs and ideas have, disappeared, except in the secluded mountain districts.

1 rho Indian language has much vitality. In the southern part of Alexieo the language not only holds its own, but is making headway among the Alexicans. I here are a number of places where there are grammars exclusively for Indians and where thev have special teachers. The tribes never speak Spanish among themselves, no matter how well tlicy can use and understand it.

The Indian language is broken up into many dialects. In one. place thero were thirty dialects. Tribes eight miles apart could not understand one another. They fight amongst eacli other. Some tribes have considerable dislike of thf> white man. One Indian chief issued a proclamation while I was there that anyone in his tribe caught, waring the shoes of a white man would be killed. The Indians u-ual!y wear moccasins and sandals.

" f visited a tribe sixty miles south nf Kalina Cruz. These people are called Hnnvos and have rarely visited by white pepole. They live alone; the Mater Ingunes. They are a conservative people from whom it is bard to cet. in formal,ion. I cot my information by going To the pueblos where the culture had broken down. They speak a language like the tribes in the mountains. Their custom is different from all others. They beiouq; io the. same tribe as that known as the ' Mixe.' Tt is possible that, they will turn out the same people as those who speak the Maya languages and Guatemalan, and who are known for their high type of culture. They are probably the remnants of people, pushed aside by the more powerful other Indian tribes."The Indians of Southern Mexico use Spanish money. They live in huts that have 110 windows. They ust* oxen. Their food is rabbit, deer, lizard, fish, cocoa and cocoanuts. They have no milk. They sleep in hammocks made of soft yarn- They arc great believers in custom, and will generally not change."

Dr Undin is compiling his report for Harvard and Columbia Universities. It will be published by tho Smithsonian Institution.