Wilmington daily commercial., 1873-06-11

YORK SUN REPORTER, WITH bHORr HAIR
Letter from wilmington Lady, Transcribed for
the Commercially
OMAHA AGENoY, NABRAsKA,
June II 1878.
Yesterday, was invited into the Council
House, on the occasion of the arrival of two
Ponca Iadian Chiefs, accompanied by the Oma-
ha chief "Shu-dth-nszzhe" or Yellow Smoke,
and the half breed Louis Sansoucie who acts as
interpreter here, to hold council with the
Quaker Agent Of the Omahas and again, as here
tOfore to tell their grievances and ask assistance,
because they are sorely pressed by their enemies,
the Sioux, their Dakota neighbors, who are on
the look out for them, day and night, to pick
them off and kill them. These poor Poncas
have had trouble of all sorts, this year, ending
up with the grasshopPers. which have done
great damage. (These pests by the way. only
taTried here one day, 30 we have escaped WE'LL
What the Poncas desire of the Father of the
Omahas is that he shall hold council with his
white friends, to get the Great Father at Wash
ington to allow them to live on the land with
the Omahas in Nebraska, who are their rela.
tives and friends. and who also desire that they
may all live on the Same reservation. They say
they are few and weak, only seven hundred in
number that they wish to obey the Great
Father, and to work not to avenge themselves
ON their enemies, but be allowed to live in peace ;
to have implements given them to work with
that they may have food for their wives and chill
dren to eat and to have protection from their
enemes. Such was the substance of the speech
or they made through the interpreter
1t was forbidden them to leave their reserva-
vation but these two had stolen away to tell their
sad story to Friend Painter, the Omaha Agent
and ask him to write letter to their Agent as
their Interpreter being against them, never prop
erly communicated their wants and TO be al
lowed to remain here until the letter is sent and
an answer received
In the Council house, after sitting in silence
having passed the pipe around and taken three
or four puffs apiece, the younger of the Ponca
chiefs, fine-looking man with handsome fea-
lures and beautiful eyes and teeth arose and
taking step towards Friend Painter, addressed
himself to him in an earnest even impassioned
manner. Between his sentences while the inter-
prefer rendered them into English, he would
stand erect, holding his blanket, and then re-
sumo. 1t was so touching, what he said and the
manner Of saying it, that could not help crying
| for the life Of me.
He said I'VE wish to till our ground and
work as the White Father desire us to do, but
how can we while we have to watch day aud
night for our enemies the Sioux, who are ever
on the watch to kill and scalp wives and chill
| dren Our heads ache all the time.
my Father Within few weeks they
scaped ten of our tribe, and stole twenty of our
ponies. We think it hard our Great Father
keeps us near our enemies and does not protect
| us. How can we live in peace They steal our
horses and we have no redress. What can we
do but steal in return
| have been separated, but there is no difference
between u.s. Our Father, we would like to come
| and live with the 0mshas. We want you to try
| and do something for our people. jShuh. "
| which means Il have done.
When the young chief had finished his speech,
/ he came over and shook bands with the ladies'
| OF the Agents family, and then sat down and
| the elder POnca who had sat with his head COW
/ cred while the other spoke, rose and spoke in
his turn, telling other things which they su fer
/ ed from the neghborhood of the Sioux, after
which we retired. Friend Painter wrote letters
to their Agent and to others, stating their case,
/ and permits the two Chiefs to remain, until an
swers are received.
The poor Poncas think it very hard they
have to live near those dreadful Sioux. And
i then their reservation in Dakota is a miserably
Door one while here the 0mahas have great deal
i Of land-more than they want. u. says the diff
/ hculty is that the whites Of Nebraska want no
more Indians in the State. They say there are
| too many already.
The reporter for the New York Sun was here
i last week ''speering around. He had come
/ down from the Poncas' country, as fast as he
Il could, having been, he told us, in great danger
i of losing his scalp, as the Sioux were out seek.
| ing those commodities all the time. His hair
| was cut of very short, SO that they should not
| get hold Of it. We found him very suspicious
and queer in other respects, as he went of with
| out good-by, or thanks for his dinner and enter
/ tainment.
We see in the Sioux City papers that since he
| left us, two white females had him taken up and
| put in the ealAboose of that town, as a suspi-
| cious character who was too inquiBitive; dan
ger from which short hair did not save him.