The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1878-05-23

Manners and Morals Of the Sioax.
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 rye gen.
tie savage" in his own home, when
administered through the channel of
Incian justice. l mention first the
crime of stealing. No doubt, when l
say this crime is considered q virtue in
stead of crime, the reader will laugh
incredulously, but yet it's true, .'to
steal and not be found out" but to be
caught in the act or to be found in pos
session of the stolen property is q dis
grace, and it is the privilege of the
squaws to taunt and tease him, who ex-
ercise this privilege to the fullest ex-
tent, and to be ridiculed by squaw is
the worst degradation that can be in
flicted; 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
a squaw man. He is then disgraced
forever, being debarred from all war
rior 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 apparel, in fact, everything
and in turn they are given to the
parties whom he had stolen from, and
to destitute widows and orphans of
fallen braves, and the thief is turned
over to the mercy of the band. But
should he be successful 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 hap
pen to be q brave Indian and an &C
cOmplished thief combined, then he is
away up on the brave list, and no ex.
pedhion is fitted up but he is invited to
be one of the party, very often as its
leader. This kind of an individual is a
terror to the squaw-man, as he invari-
ably 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 Indian would
do, and never receives kind word un-
less it be from some kind-hearted mis-
sionary. 1 tried to find out what he
had done, but could not, as there are
several ways to reduce an Indi1n to
that position, and no amount of in
quiry will make them disclose the facts
to outside parties; and as the last In
dian l asked said, "Heap talk too
much,'' gently took the hint. To act
the coward in battle, to disobey an or
der from the Chief where there is any
danger, to try to skulk or get out OF
any dangerous undertaking when de-
tailed for it, 60 to make the Indian a
squaw-man.
Fighting among themselves is almost
unknown. During my experience l
have never seen one Indian wishing to
fight another of his own band, though
have been told that occasionally thee
is such case. Should two Indians
commence to fight and another Indian
step between them, or put q stick or
pipe between them, they would have to
desist, or run the chance of being
killed, as they certainly would be did
they not desist when called on. Pre-
meditated murder among themselves
is looked on as one of the impossible
ties. There is not an Indian in the
band that can call to mind any instance
of such case. There are some in
stances where the peace men cannot
keep down a fight between two Indians
who have some fine point of Indian
honor to settle. The head men then
make them go ON and settle the affair
with knives, when one or both are in
variably killed. Should one come of
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 60 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 inva-
riably settled by the older men of the
tribe, and their verdict forever settles
the dispute.
Hospitality among the Sioux is great,
indeed. and would put to shame some
of their paleface brethren. Poor
though it be, it's given cheerfully. and
you receive perfect welcome. For an
Indian to send hungry man from his
tepee, be he a prisoner, friend or en-
envy, is an insult to his tribe.
It would require separate letter to
give all the different forms of marriage
in days gone by, but now they resort to
the missionary, and have adopted the
ways of the whites, and they seem to
think it the best way, and try to imi-
tate their white sisters and brothers to
the best of their ability.
An Indian will always avenge any
personal wrong done him, even should
it lead to his death, and their memory
of wrong done them lasts for life; but
by the kind actions of a humane Govern
ment and good example of the mission
aries, sch0olmasters. etc., hope there
will be q great change. Civilization
~sys11 10 Z s~~H