White Cloud Kansas chief. [volume] (White Cloud, Kan.) 1857-1872, 1857-07-09
Our Red Brethren.


AS was anticipated, the Indians were
here, on the Fourth, in all their glory.
dressed in their choicest attire. An In
dams holiday dress Is somewhat pecu-
LARA blanket, pair Of buckskin leg
gings, bunch of feathers stuck in the
hair, and moScasins worked with beads.
The principal part Of their dress seems to
consist of ornaments and trinkets stuck
about their persons. For instance. if
they have the bottom Of tin-cup sus-
pended from the neck, several brass rings
on each finger, the same sort in the nose;
while the ear is perforated at the top,
(not the bottom, as with the white folks, J
in which huge brass clock wheel is
hung; and this, being perforated, is hung
full of smaller rings-then they are in
their glory, and, mounting their ponies,
are of, with whip in hand-the whip, by
the way, resembling rolling-pin, with
three or four leather straps fastened to
one end. The Summepdress of the wo-
men, is simply a greasy calico shirt
They have, however, a fancy mode OF
doing up their hair. To get an idea OF
it. Just cut of, a cows tail high enough
nm to make it bleed, then wrap it in dirty
rags, and you have perfect fac sin'ile OF
an Indian Squaw's hair, "done up in a
rag" The dress of the smaller boys is
still more simple, being only = large
black mark drawn with charcoal around
each eye, which gives them the appear
ancc of large owls.
Such was the style in which our red
brethren appeared on the Fourth. They
hung around the outside Of the crowd,
ready to "pitch in," when the time
should come. After the Barbecue had
been partaken Of, then came their turn
They evidently went upon the principle,
"gather up the fragments, that nothing
be lost" We doubt whether they even
left enough picking for the pigs-but
bread, meat, and everything else, were
slowed away in their wallets. We saw
one fellow with three huge loaves of bread
stuck upon stick, which he carried be-
fore him, on his horse, with as much
pomp as a military commander carries
his sword. The scraps were crammed
into the wallets. and packed off by the
women, on their ponies. By the way,
these sacks are choice affairs, and well
calculated to give person with a deli
cate stomach, a good appetite, when he
sees victuals before him, which came out
of one of the wallets. If the saying
be true, that "the proof of the pudding
is chewing the bag" we would not crave
the office of pudding-prover among the
Indians. To give an idea of the virtues
possessed by these wallets, we will state
that, sometimes the Indians are "hard
up" for eatables, when they hear of car
cass which has been lying in the sun for
about week. They straightway hunt
it up, drive away the buzSards, and cut
ting it in pieces, carry it home in their
wallets, and have grand feast. The
next day, they hear that some one is
about 10 kill beef or a pork. They are
on hafid. early, and as soon as the entrails
are taken out, souse they go into the same
wallets, always under the supervision Of
the squaws, and another feast ensues.-
And still the next day, public feast Is
to come off. The same squaws, with the
same wallets, are sure to make their ap-
pearance, to gather up the scraps of bread,
meat, cake, pickles, etc., which are tum-
bled in together, and carried off for anoth-
er feast! If dirt makes people healthy,
no wonder these Indians are a robust
race. But what is the use of buzzards,
in this country?