The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1871-12-14

IeatneTS ana paint, close Snaven heads,
ugly pig-tails, and gorgeous top.knots,
make up the glory and beauty of their
toilets. In the matter of dress, how-
ever, the women are not nearly so ex.
travagant as men. Their hair receives
less attention, and their faces are mostly
exempt from paint. They trim their
skirts with curiously wrought trim
mings, wear shell bracelets, bead neck
laces, and large earrings. But in these
trappings they constantly advertise the
inferior position they are expected to
occupy. .
The Musquawkees, save in q single
particular, are strictly honest and,
though they have but the slightest
knowledge of numbers, they remember
their accounts with surprising accuracy.
When they buy anything for which
they cannot pay down, they must have
the amount written on = piece of paper
for them. They cannot read it of course,
but they never fail to bring it with them
when they come to settle, and to know
just how much it represents. Their idea
of business is just this: II Nav. mock e.
NAV owes me $40, write out his note
for the amount, sign his name to it, and
he makes "his mark" by touching the
top of the penholder while 1 make the
mark (X) myself. Then he keeps the note
to remind him that he owes me. With
nu OF Of Il -,
in all the world, it is an utter mystery.
how he does keep it; but as certainly as
the day of payment comes, SO certainly
does ne fish out from some recess or fold
of blanket, breechclout, or leggin', the
identic promise to pay, and hands over
both it and the specified amount. He
has no idea Of interest. Interest is q
product of civilization. Now that he
has paid it, must keep the note to re-
mind me that he does not owe me.
Should afterward present it to him for
payment, the fact of its being in my
possession would be to him conclusive
evidence that he had paid it. Some
may suppose that I ought to subtract
still farther from the statement regard
ing their honesty, when say that they
are remarkably expert at games of
chance, and play them for money at ev-
cry opportunity; but they are totally ig-
nOrant Of the morality involved in the
act Of obtaining money through the op-
Grafton of chance. They regard it as a
purely business transaction, in which,
what they win they have fairly earned,
and uice versa. They, therefore, pay a
lost wager as pnnctually as any debt
they owe.
None of the tribe can read or write.
l once undertook to teach one of the
young men who speaks little English.
a fter few lessons he brought back his
books aud refused to take another les
son. l expressed surprise, and asked
him to explain. His only reply was
Musquawkes no do like white man.
Old Injuu no write" This, of course,
was final for, when an Indians mind
is made up, there is no power in argu-
ments to change him. If the import
ance of teaching their children is urged
upon them, they reply by asking
whether the whites would like to adopt
Musquawkee customs. OF course not.
And why should they, then, adopt
those of the whites? And so, with an
jndescribable positive shake of the head
and shrug of the shoulders, they close
the subject by informing you that
Musquawkee no like SCHOOL,
They are generally fond of strong
drink, and will sacrifice any comfort or
convenience to obtain it but u few of
the Older ones are total abstinence men.
One of them, who estimates his age at
one hundred and fifteen years, has long
given up the use of it. and his influence
goes far with the younger ones. Their
chief, Waw won. e-ka, who is forty.
three years old, never tasted spirits.
The second chief, the orator of the
band, Waw-kee- mo, is SO years old. He
indulges in occasional fits of glorious
drunkenness. Potoc-to, the Medicine
Man." brother of the head chief, is so
years old. He seldom drinks, and his
influence over the tribe is greater and
better, perhaps, than that of any of his
superiors, mainly from steadiness and
manliness of bearing which he has in a
degree far above any of the rest Of the
tribe.
They live entirely in tents and huts-
wick-e-ups they call them. A piece of
land recently bought for them had
house upon it, but they pitched their
tents alongside, saying White mans
house no good. Musquawkes like wick
cup" Aside from their annuity hun
ting is their main dependence, and
yields them a scanty subsistence. Upon
nearly 500 acres of land owned by them,