The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1879-08-14

tronomic excuses. He looks upon a
baby as gift direct from the hands OF
his Great Spirit-a something with
stomach for q soul, and power of alb
sorption that must never fail of gratiti-
cation. As the young ones grow up,
they are treated with marked courtesy
and respect. Their opinions are receiv-
ed with ludicrous gravity, and they are
taught to be self-reliant. They do not
play as other children do. The toys of
the boys are guns and horses; and they
are trained so carefully in their use that
the boy of u is warrior, admitted to
the soldier-b band, and depended upon in
a fight, as much as the man of 25. 1t
was youth of Is who killed Custer, and
[ have seen shayers of and 6 who were
perfect horsemen.
In his dealings with his red brethren
the Teton is
ALWAYS COURTEOUS AND AFFABLE.
They never blackguard each other. A
quarrel is rare thing, and, when it &C.
ours, is submitted to Council of Chiefs,
who decide on the merits, and from
whose decision there is no appeal. Such
thing as blow is unknown. An In
dian will never strike his children or
bis wife; which latter circumstance has
probably given foundation to the i'm
preston that his civilization is impossi-
ole. If two Indians dispute, however
acrimoniously, there is no fight. The
law prescribes their course, and the
Council provides the remedy for him
who is in the right. Occasionally,
though the instances are widely sepa-
rated as to time, there is death battle
between two braves. The family of the
defeated individual pray the Council for
relief. After hearing all the circum-
stances, the victor is fined SO many
horses or SO much buffalo meat, which
fine is handed over to the survivors of
the late lamented. 1 regret that some
such incident did not occur during my
stay in the camp, that I might afford
you fully the proceedings before the
Council, as well as the wonderful cere-
mon es of an Indian funeral; but l saw
nothing but good humor and peace.
To summarize briefly the Sioux In
dian is an even-tempered,
aENTLEMANLY SORT OF A FELLOW,
fond of his home and bis family, consti-
tutionally hungry, and always full of
fun. When he goes in for good time,
he has it; and, when he mourns, he
mourns vindictively. One night heard
the most ungodly noise that ever assail-
ed the human tympanum. Inquiry de-
veioped the information that chap not
far off had suddenly called to mind the
death of his mother, dated some ten
years previously; and until early in the
morning he howled remorselessly over
the demise of his late relative. After he
had concluded his tribute to the memory
of the deceased, he killed his dog and
gave dinner party; and, barring few
evidences of fatigue, he was the most
cheerful fellow in the outfit.
1t is when one gets among them that
he finds the Sioux robbed of the mystic
rious terror with which the imaginations
OF the American people have invested
them. There is nothing horrible about
them. They are no worse than other
Indians, and, having never come under
the paternal mercy of the Indian De-
partment, they are
GREAT DEAL BETTER THAN SOME.
The newspaper man who goes among
them looking for q sensation finds him
self wofully and disastrously left. He
finds an orderly band of comparatively
decent people, who attend to their own
affairs, preach State-rights as far as they
are concerned, and let the balance of
the population go to the devil, after the
established custom of all savages. II
he behaves himself, he is we'll treated :;
but he will find it impossible to get up
an Indian war, however he may exert
himself. Nor is the camp of the Tetons
an unsafe place to 60. Iwould not like
to take the responsibility of recommend
ing it as summer-resort, nor have l at
present the statistics to demonstrate its
superiority over Chicago as a watering
place; but man or family, hunting
for something novel, and trying to i'm
prove his or its mind by the study of an
unknown band, might do we'll to try it
for month or two. AS a fully adopt
ed Un.ca-papa, l cheerfully extend a
cordial invitation to all to whom these
presents may come, and the lodge of
my highly respected father, Little
Knife, will be found open to all appli-
cants.