The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1871-12-14
@@~4-a24:"T "TIPTof1, IOWA, DECEMBER II. 1871.

I1cI0 tucy IeuAAueu ia SlOOLDy ln8CLlVl'
ty and even stupidity, like Powonto1a.
mo, once tho eagle of the Mohawks
como ito lie down and die beneath the
broad oak that shsdowed the grave OF
Sunny-Eys." Here they are still, and
will probably continue, under the
blight Of ancestral barbarism, TIL dirt,
nastiness and want shall lay the last
one stark and stiff along the margin OF
the river.
The Musquawkees now number
about three hundred men women and
children, These children are reared in
all the misery of the mos. thorough
Indian customs. Tied ON boards with
thongs of leather or strips Of bark,
wrapped in huge blankets in hottest
and coldest weather alike, transported
in blankets thrown across the backs of
ponies and dangling along bareheaded
in sunshine and storm, or carried like
dead woodchucks on the backs of hag-
gish looking squaws, and, at home roll
ing In all the glory of dirt among the
multitude Of dogs in their huts, they are
on all accounts the most pitiable spect-
acls to be seen about the whole Mus
quawks camp.
It Is remarkable that these children
seldom fret or cry. I once saw one Of
the mothers lean the board upon which
her child was tied against the outside OF
store while she went to do some trad
ing. In few minutes large dog kept
as . watch about the store, dashed out
in pursuit of stranger cur, struck the
baby's board in his hurry, and sent both
rolling into the gutter. I picked up the
unfortunate little fellow and replaced
him in his leaning position against the
wall but he gave no other sign of emo
ton than heavy sigh ofrelief at finding
himself again with his head up and no
bones broken.
The men arc exceedingly lazy. Per
haps it would he better to say they are
exceedingly proud, and dispise rather
than dislike work. They delight to
smoke, swim, hunt and lie in the shade.
The women are the drudges of the
camp. They cut the wood, build the
huts, cultivate few little patches of
ground, and do the marketing. Just
now I see q herd of squaws from my
window. They are leading, driving
and riding dozen ponies loaded down
with tents and children, blankets and
meat, axes, hatchets aud indescribable
sundries, vending their way to the
banks Of the Cedar River, whittier the
lazy lords of the camp have gone several
days ago, riding unencumbered, in the
blissful enjoyment of red paint and to-
bacco smoke. There they will hunt,
Ash, smoke, beg and starve unit spring.
It is impossible to describe the Mus
quawkees without mention of their
ponies, for these bony brutes are about
half of their all. An American horse
would starve on the fare they get.
When grass is abu ndant they look pass
ably we'll, but in winter they subsist
entirely on the branches and dry grass
which they paw out from under the
snow for the Musquawkee's hay. If
one of them wants money, he will sell
his pony for a mere tritle; If he does not,
he will not part with it for any reasons
able compensation.
Generally speaking, there is nothing
peculiar about their mode of burial but,
for some reason not known to any of
the whites, so far as can learn, in few
instances they dispose of their dead in a
manner almost too incredible for belief
in community accustomed to all the
sacred rites Of Christian burial. A
noble warrior among them, having died,
was placed on 4 large piece of bark,
raised seventy feet high in an old elm
tree, secured by strong thongs of leather,
and left there for more than two years.
A squaw was buried in sitting posture,
the lower part of the body covered with
earth, tho head and trunk erect, and,
except looping forward and sinking
downward as the ground settled, the
skeleton sat upright for nearly five
years. One of the men, buried in the
same manner, had his rifle placed ut his
shoulder, firmly clasped with both
hands, and dismally aimed by the hor-
rid hunter at blank vacancy, till nature
dissolved the tendons Of the arm and
the weapon fell lengthwise Oh the
grave. Sometimes they inter at the
depth of ten, and even eleven
feet. At others the corpse is laid on the
surface of the ground and covered with
earth. The graves are stuck with
sticks, and piled with poles, and little
white flags flutter from slaves set in the
ground, while rags of various colors
cover the branches of the Overhanging
trees. All in all, their burying ground
so bespeaks a thorough degradation of
soul and inbred superstition as to be
totally terrible to timid visitors.
Four years ago one Of the men were
TO camp in the night. He
had imbibed too freely Of the fatal fire
water" which IN this country has
brought calamity upon SO man. of the
Indian people, and the torch and toma-
hawk to SO many pioneer cabins.
Drowsiness overlook him, and he lay
down. His body was found horribly
from having been run over by
= passing train. During the day the
Indians come down in solemn process
sion from the camp, collected every
fragment of the body and clothing,
scraped up even the soil that had been
dampened with his blood, carried all
away and buried them with the utmost
care. Then his pony-a dismal looking
little animal, which gave abundant
proof of having had hard life Of it
was led upon the grave and shot, its
blood mingling with the fresh earth, SO