Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1870-10-19
THE SIOUX SUN.DANCE.

Inns AN1AAhN ANANN4AAAAAAEE rs nEuf-
tieed among the Sioux, il regarded by
the whites with feelings of horror,
and few have the nerve to become
spectators Of the cruelties which are
undergone by the deluded victims.
1t is a sort of religious dance, in
which the young braves test their for
titude and stOicism in resisting pain
without wincing. A young officer
who witnessed the sun-dance a few
weeks since, at the Cheyenne Agen-
cy, seven miles above Fort Sully, on
the Missouri river, gives the following
account: The Indians manifested
considerable opposition to having the
whites present. When several officers
belonging to the Seventeenth United
States Infantry came up, Red Leaf
leaped over a breastwoTk of logs and
ordered the troops away. After par
leying with the chief some time, the
soldiers fell back and took a position
which was not Objectionable to the
Indians, but whence they would OBJ
tain only a partial view of the per-
Torrance. There was a large lodge
built in shape of an amphitheatre,
with q pole in the centre. The sides
and roof were covered with willows,
forming a tOlerable screen, but not so
dense as 20 obstuct entirely the view.
The performances were commenced
with chants and lamentations. Five
young men were brought in and par
tally stripped, their mothers being
I present and assistingin the ceremony.
Then the medicine man began his
part by cutting Sits in the flesh of the
young men, and taking up the mus
cles with pincers. The old squaws
assisted in larcerating the flesh Of the
boys with knives. The squaws would
at the same time keep up a bowling,
accompanied with amOvement TO and
fro. When the muscles were lifted
out by the pincers on the breast, one
end of a sort of lariat or buffalo thong
was tied to the bleeding flesh, while
the other end was tied to the top of
the pole in the centre of the lodge.
The first young man, when thus pre-
pared. commenced dancing around
the circle in q frantic manner, pulling
with all his weight, so as to stretch
out the rope, and by his jerking
movements loosen himself by tearing
out the flesh. The young mans dance
vas accompanied by a chant of those
who were standing round, assisted by
the humping of a hideous drum TO
keep time. The young brave who
was undergoing this %self-tOrture final
" succeeded in tearing himself loose,
and the rope relaxed from its sudden
tightness and fell back toward the
centre pole with a piece of the flesh
to which il was tied. The victim,
who up to this point did not move n
muscle of his face, fell down on the
ground, exhausted from the pain
which human weakness could no fur
Their conceal. A squaw then rushed
in and bore the young brave away.
He had undergone the terrible ordeal,
and amid the congratulations of the
old men would be cOmpiimented as a
warrior Of undOubted pluck and &C
knOwIedged proves.
Another Of the young men, named
Charles, was cut in two places under
each shOulderblade, the flesh was rails
ed with pincers, and thongs tied
around the flesh and muscle thus
raised. The thongs reached down be-
low the knees and were tied to buffa-
10 skulls. With these heavy weights
dangling at the ends of the thongs.
the young man was required to dance
around the circle, to the sound of the
drum and chants of the bystanders
until the skulls became detached by
tearing out the flesh. They eontin-
ued the performance until one skull
broke loose, but the other remained.
The mother of the young man then
rushed into the ring, leading a pony
and tied n end of the lariat which
vas around the pOny's neck to the
skull, which was still fastened to the
young man. The latter then follow
ed the pony round the ring Until,
nearly exhausted, he fell on his face,
and the skull was thereby torn out of
the flesh. The sufferers voice grew
husky from joining in the chant he
groyeled on the ground in violent
c~Ontortions for a few minutes, and
was then removed to the outside of
the lodge.
A third man had the lariat of the
pony hitched to the raised muscle of
his back, and was dragged in this way
several times round the ring, but the
force not being sufficient to tear loose
from the flesh, the pony was backed
up, and, a slack being thus taken on
the lariat, the pony was urged swiftly
forward, and the sudden jerk tore the /
lariat out of the flesh. My informant
having seen enough of these hOrrid
performances to satisfy his curiosity,
left with his companions, without
waiting to see the dance through"
The dance, with its bloody orgies, |
lasted three days. The sun-dance is
not now as frequently practiced as in
become extinct only under the re-
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