The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1878-05-25
Manner and Morals of the Sioux.

A correspondent of the Chicago Times
says: ! have made diligent inquiries re-
garding the social and tribal laws gov
erning the Ogallala Sioux, and have
elected the following, which, though not
SO terribly strict, is, nevertheless, more
than enough to govern eye gentle
savage" in his own home when admin
istered through the channel of Indian
justice. mention first the crime of
stealing. No doubt, when | say this
crime is considered virtue instead of a
crime, the reader will laugh incredu-
lously, but yet tbs true, " to steal and
not be found out" but to be caught in
the act or to be found in possession of
the stolen property is disgrace, and it
is the privilege of the squaws to taunt
and tease him, who exercise this privi-
lege to the fullest extent, and to be ridi-
culed by asquaw is the worst degradation
that can be inflicted; consequently he
very seldom steals. Should he be caught
in the act three or four times, he would
be Stunned by all the warriors and made
squaw man. He is then disgraced for
ever, being debarred from ali warrior
proceedings whatsoever, which disgrace
to an Indian is worse than death, and
many prefer death to that punishment
and kill themselves. When a warrior
or young man is made a squaw man,
the head men of the tribe take his gun,
bow and arrows, ponies, all his war ap-
parel, in fact, everything and in turn
they are given to the parties whom he
has stolen from and the destitute wild
ows and orphans of fallen braves, and
the thief is turned over to the mercy of
the band. But should he be sue
cessful thief outside of his own band
then he is praised for his sagacity, and
the more he steals the higher he gets
Should he luckily happen to be brave
Indian and an accomplished thief COM
bined, then he is away up on the brave
list, and no expedition is fitted up but
he is invited to be one of the party, very
often as its leader. This kind of an in
dividual is a terror to the squaw man, as
he invariably taunts him when and
wherever he meets him. There is but
one squaw man in the whole of Red
Clouds band. l have personally seen
him, and his life is hell on earth. He
has to do everything that no other In
dian would do, and never receives kind
word unlcssit be from some kind hearted
missionary. l tried to find out what he
had done, but could not, as there are
several ways to reduce an Indian to that
position, and no amount of inquiry will
make them disclose the facts to outside
parties; and as the last Indian | asked
said, " Heap talk too much" / gently
took the hint. To act the coward in
battle, to disobey an order from the
chief where there is any danger, to try
to skulk or get out of any dangerous
undertaking when detailed for it, 90 to
make the Indian squaw man.
Fighting among themselves is almost
unknown. During my experience l
have never seen one Indian wishing 10
fight another of his own band, though I
have been told that occasionally there
is such a case. Should two Indians COM
mence to fight and another Indian step
between them, or put a stick or pipe be-
tween them, they would have to desist,
or run the chance of being killed, az
| they certainly would be did they not
desist when called on. Premeditated
murder among themselves is looked on
rs one of the impossibilities. There is
not an Indian in the band that can call
to mind any instance of such case.
There are some instances where the
peace men cannot keep down a fight be-
tween two Indians who have some fine
point of Indian honor to settle. The
head men then make them 90 off and set
tie the affair with knives, when one or both
are invariably killed Should one come
off safe, he would on some dark night
take all of his ponies and tie them in
front of the tepee of the deceased, which
would go great ways to assuage the
grief of the relatives. Sometimes the
gift would only be four or five ponies,
according to the rank of the deceased
Any dispute that may arise is invariably
settled by the older men of the tribe,
and their verdict forever settles the dis
pute.
Hospitality among the Sioux is great