The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1879-10-18
Winning His Spurs.

About four miles south Of Fort Walsh,
in the Indian county, is the camp of some
two thousand Blackfcct Indians, who have
been celebrating their annual dog feast and
performing their great sun dance. Recently
several of the Mounted Police determined
TO go over and see what was going on. We
succeeded in hiring number Of Indian
ponies, SO small that after strapping on
them our large military saddles it would
have been difficult for q man to decide
whether the saddles were on the ponies or
the ponies under the saddles. 1t would
have appeared that the speed was more due
to the continual working Of the arms and
legs of the riders, and to their ccasclcss
swinging Of the bushes carried by them US
whips, then to any effort Of the concealed
t,ladrupcd. When we got TO the Indian
cncampmcnt we found that the tribe had
formed large circular bower, or arbor Of
boughs, covered with branches, and per-
haps forty feet in diameter Just opposite
the place left for an entrance was the mcdi-
cine mans throne. Near this chief mcdi-
cine man who was ugly and dirty enough
to have an indisputablc claim to extreme
sanctity, the orchestra was seated. 1t con-
sisted of eight Indians painted cXtrav
agantly, each beating on a piece of skin
stretched over bent hoop. They kept up
this pounding and sort of yclp all day
long, while an assistant medicine man
danced and occasionally blew whistle,
holding at the same time in one hand by
the hind legs rabbit painted red, which
is supposed to have some mysterious in
tluence on the fate of the warriors about to
be accepted into the Indian order of
knighthood. At 2 p. m. the sun dance
began, and will begin every day at that
hour as long rs the supply of new warriors
last. Then all the chiefs OF the tribe file
into the ring and all the warriors sit down
in circle, from which the children and
squaws arc excluded in order that they
may go off to the wgwams and get the
dogs cooked in time for the feast at the end
Of the days performance. AS the chiefs
enter the drums arc beaten harder, and the
yclps come out fnstcr and louder, while the
warriors rise and begin their peculiar dance,
which consists Of putting one foot hcforC
the other and keeping time with tho drum.
After the dance the big chief madcn speech,
and then young man stepped up to Il pole
in the centre and laid himself on his back
on the ground. Two medicine men then
arose, drew their knives and cut holes
through each side of The breast Of the nco-
phytc through which they put skcwcrs.
HC then turned over and they made hole
through the skin on The shoulder blade and
put q skcwcr through ii, on which they
fastened large shield weighing ten or llf-
teen pounds. lie now stood up, and ropes
hanging from the centre pole above were
tied to the skcwtrS on The breast. For u
moment hc leaned against the pole, moan
ing audiby with agony; then he sprang out
and danced, stretching The ropes which held
the skcwcrs till the flesh stood out for three
inches from his chest. Suddenly he threw
himself backward, his whole weight hang
ing on the ropes, when, horrible to relate,
the flesh burst and he fell to the ground.
where he remained! but Il moment, however
for starting to Ills feet he jcrlCd the shield
from his back, tearing away the flesh on
the shoulder blade and nearly completing
his torture. The medicine men then came
forward and in part cut of the pieces of
flesh which had been torn, presenting them
TO the ncw-m0dc warrior, who was inmcdi-
ately taken to his tent, where his horse and
arms were displayed. 1t was the most dis
gushing sight we ever saw, and the man
who endured and assisted in his initiation
was certainly entitled TO consider that he
had demonstrated his capacity for suffering,
and proved his superiority to mere pain. 1t
has been suggested that the ceremony should
he made preliminary to entrance into the
order of Canadian knigIithood, and there is
this meant in the proposition it would
probably keep down the crop of knights
After the warrior had been "madc' the
squaws came III with the feast, which con-
sisted of soup made from white dogs, some
berries floating in the mess, and big cakes
cooked in grease. Each man ate half a
dozen of the cakes and worried down over
half gallon of the soup. Then, full fed,
they performed what might be called the
second degree for n Blaclifoo, warrior. The
medicine man cut fresh hole in the still
nnwoundcd shoulder blade Of the new war
r1or, and hung on il builalo's head All
the natives present then joined in a grand
dance, the new fighting man footing it with
tile rest, when suddenly the medicine man
hit the builalo's head with club and
Knocked it off the new warrior, whose flesh
was again torn apart. lie kept dancing
with the rest, not exhibiting n sign of pain,
while the blood ran down his back. This
ended the ceremony, so far rs the torture of
the individual was concerned, though il may
be doubted whether the immense amount
of eating which cnsucd was not intended to
demonstrate the capacity Of the old warriors
for enduring the tormcms of an over
loaded stomach