The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1855-06-06
The Scalp Dance.

two countries"
The Scalp Dance.
A correspondent of the St. Anthon.
E1fress gives the following accountEof I
grand sclap dance witnessed by him in {
recent trip up the Minnesota River
We trust tho time will soon come whe1
these mournfd proofs ofsayage ferocity
and cruelty will be no moro -knowr
among usla sss sJiad s ,8sTl yaH
sE" On the day of our arrival at Tray
erse war party got in, bearing as tro
plies of their successful three, Chip
pcwa tselaps. lo Where. ctheygotthem We
could not learn with certainty, except
that,one was taken up the Mississippi
within mile or two of the Chippewa
Agents house. Tho Sioux were to have
q grand sclap dance that night in honor
of the glorious event, and we, who had
lived all our lives in Down East city bar
,barism, were anxious to have view OF
this. soul l1elevating, heroic speetacle--
We were on the ground early, not SO
early, however, but that. all the prepar-
ations for the dance had been made
Three small. stakes had been driven in
the ground, to the. top of which little
hoops were. fastened, and, on these hoops
the lately;taken sclaps were stretched,
the long hair. dangling down. moist
and sticky with the clotted blood
About twelve PAGES distant the ,warri-
ors who took part in the chants, station
ed themselves, three and four deep, aud
varying in number. as some came and
others left, from thirty to fifty. At first
the unaccustomed ear can distinguished
no music or harmony in the song Of tri-
umph and defiance; It seems jjumble
of shrieks and howls, choir of hyenas
and wolves but in very little while
the symphony which runs through tho
whole can be traced, and it actually
seemed to me sometimes, when I closed
my eyes and shut out the surrounding
accompaniments, as if was listening to
old-time camp-meeting hymns familiar
to me long ago But a single glance at
the swarthy and painted savages, their
ugly faces lit up by the light of the fire
burning in the middle of the circle, dis
PEELED such an illusion. There is here
no worship of the God who gave life,
and has promised to avenge its wanton
destruction; ne reverence or devotion
indicated in these countenanees for the
Great Spirit who commanded men to
love each other; nothing but fierce pas
soin, unbridled hate, defiant energy can
be seen, and these are expressed in every
shout and motion with wonderful effect
BY and by the younger squaws move
into the circle, and while alternating
with men in the song, dance round the
sclaps, with an case and uniformity of
motion which nothing but long practice
could give in the way in which tits done.
The feet are kept close together, and
the danoe is a sortof sideways hop on
the ball of the foot. q But SO exactly do
they keep time, and SO precisely does
each one measure 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 squaws
never sing together, but alternately, and
at intervals the chorus is interrupted by
general war-whoopi after which they
begin afresh.a Z How long twas kept up
we cannot tell. After looking on for
more than an hour and exhaustipg the |
novelty of the scene, We betook ourselves
to bed, but not to sound sleep, for we
were often walked, and always heard the
drum and the chaunt, unceasing and |
tiroless '-<' 7'-' - |
:" To one who has only read of sclap |
dances in Cooper s. novel, and has been
accustomed to regard them as rnythic
things, far distant from the tenorsef his
life and most unlikely to cross hise1pe-.
rience,i tho sight of one issscertainly
strange and interesting They are yet
common in our Territory, and from the
common state of Misunderstanding between
The Soiux and Ghippewas, almost of dai-
y occurrence. But one cannot help
thinking fromzhow large portion of the
continent the advance of civilization has
llready banished them, and how brief
he period now is before they shall be
'een no more. When the inferior race |
hall have finally perished before the
superior ;s when, from the Atlantic to the
Pacific, cultivated farms. the hum of
titles, the steamboat and the ,rail-car,
hall evidence the triumph of Christian
zed labor, one of the customs of the de-
troyed race least to be regretted viii
% the scalp dance and the bloody cruel
y which furnishes its occasion.
"NEW Conner.
8 e. The man who does most has the
east time to talk about what he does. =