The weekly Minnesotian. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1852-1858, 1854-07-01


have been down on st. Paul ever since the
newspapers here exposed the libel they put
upon us last year in their Magazine. Added
to this. liberal rival New York publisher has,
during the past eight months. been doing well
by work from his press upon Minnesota
Now, from these facts, we arc of those who be-
lcvc that no article about ST. Paul save of the
Ibclous character of that in the Times of the
18th, could have found its way into Henry j.
Raymond's paper. Let it go!
The SCALP DANCE.-A correspondent of the
st. Anthony Express gives the following ac-
count ola grand scalp dance. witnessed Ivy him
i'll recent trip up the Minnesota river. We
mourniul proofs of savage i,rocity and cruelty
will no more he known among us:
On the day of our arrival at Ira, crsc. war
party got in, bearing as trophies of their sue
crSSul valor three Chippewa scalps. Where
they got them we could not learn with certain
ty, except that one was taken up The M;ss;s-
sppi. within Il nile or two Of the Chippewa
Agents house. The Sioux were to have
grand scalp dance that night in honor of the
glorious event. and we who had lived all our
lives in down East city barbarsn were anX-
lous to have a view OF this sOul-clevatng he
roic spectacle. We were on the ground early ::
not So early, however, but that all tie prepara-
tons for the dance had been made Three
small stakes had been driven in the ground 10
the top o! which little hoops were fastened. and
in these hoops the lately taken scalps were
stretched the long hair dangling down. moist
and sticky with tho flnttnl hInnI Inn
twelve PAGES distant the warriors who took
part in the ciiaunts, stationed themselves tire"
ant! four deep and varying in number. as some
came and others left, from thirty TO fifty. At
first the unaccustomed ear can distinguish no
Music or harmony in the song of triumph and
defiance: it seems Il tumble of sIirioks and
howls, Il choir of hycnas and wolves: but in
very little while the symphony which runs
through the whole can be traced and it actual
ly seemed TO me sometimes when | closed my
eyes and shut out the surrounding accompani-
mcEtS, as if were listening TO old-timc camp
meeting hymns familiar to me long ago. But
single glance at the swarthy and painted say
ages, their ugly faces up by the light of the
fire burning in the middle of the circle disprls
snch an illusion. There is here no worship of
the God who gave life and has promised to
avcnge its wanton destruction no reverence or
devotion indicated in these countcnanccs for the
other. Nothing but fierce passion, unbridlcd
hate. defiant energy can be seen. and these are
expressed in every shout and motion with won
dcrlul effect.
by and by the younger squaws move into
the circle, and while alternating with the men
in the song. dance round the scalps. with an
case and uniformity of motion which nothing
but long practice could give in the way in
which it is done. The feet are kept close togc-
thcr and the dance is Il sort of sideways hop on
the ball Of the foot. But so exactly do they
keep time, and SO precisely does each one mca-
sure the ground over which she is to go, that AS
they move round shoulder to shoulder. and
pressing one against another, you almost fancy
they are carried on rollers, and without any
effort OF their own. The men and s,luawS never
sing together, but alternately, and at intervals
the chorus is interrupted by general war
whoop after which they begin atlcsh. How
long it was kept up we cannot tell. After look
ing on for more than an hour and cNhaustng
the novelty of the scene. we bctoOk ourselves
to bed, bat not to sound sleep for we were often
walked and always heard the drum and the
chaunt, unccasing and trelesS.
To one who has only read of scalp dances in
Coopers novels, and has been accustomed to
regard them as mythic things, far distant from
the tenor of his life and most unlikely to cross
his experience, the 5! ght of one is certainly
strange and interesting. They are yet common
in onr Territory. and from the common state of
warfare existing between the Sioux and Chip
pcwas almost Of daily occurrence. Bat one
cannot help thinking from how large a portion
of the continent the advance OF civilization has
already banisllcd them; and how brief the Pc
Rod now is before they shall he seen no more.
When the inferior race shall have finally per-
!shcil before the superior; when, from the At
lantic to the Pacific, cultivated farms, the hum
ofcit!cs. the Steamboat and the railcar, shall
evidence the triumph of Christanizcd la
Dor. onc Of the customs Of the destroyed race,
least to be regretted. will be the scalp dance
and the bloody cruelty which furnishes its oc
cason. NEW Conner.