Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1882-04-20

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portion of it was carefully returned and
the remainder of it extinguished.
Whenever person became danger
ously i'll, if near enough he was taken
to the house Of the Mutchekewis. where
his fire was extinguished and a brand
was brought from the altar and a fire
kindled at which feast was prepared.
a great dance was then held, after
which the viands were consumed. Cen
eral Cas-. who gave much time to the
collection Of facts relative to traditional
customs Of the Indians. said that his in
formant asserted that the above cere-
mony never failed to cure the patient
for whom il was performed.
Once in eight years the whole Chip
pewa tribe assembled at their principal
village about the season of the buds.
Early in the morning the great pipe
was lighted at the sacred fire, and de-
livered TO the Mutchekewis He took
one puff delivered it to the women. and
then to the men, by all OF whom it was
in the same manner smoked. 1t was
then handed round to the children. This
cermOny consumed the day; and early
the next day feast was held, at which
men, women, and children ate in sepa-
rate groups, in perfect silence. In the
evening. without song or dance, they
quietly departed for their different
villages. The fire was called kanga-
geeskoote, or the everlasting fire. The
principal male attendant was Kangagee
keegik, or the everlasting sun, and his
assistant, Kanawaudemkshkoo or
the fire keeper. The principal female
was called Kangegee Gaubewakna, or
the everlasting standing woman; and
her assistant, Kabagaubewekwa. or the
whO-stands- all-the-time.
According to the Natchez legend this
tribe should have been Of Asiatic origin.
for they were the most devoted and sin
cere of all the fire-worshipers, and the
most unanimous and religious followers
of all the idolaters of the East. Another
curious fact is that they held the women
in the highest respect and esteem. and
with a gallantry quite uncommon
among the aborioines of America, they
ascribed the salvation of their race to
one of the too-often degraded and de-
spised sex. The tradition is substantially
as follows:
Thousands of g SHOWS ago all the in
habitants of the earth, with the excep-
ton Of single family, were destroyed
by floods and darkness. and want OF
food. This one family managed to
keep up large fire of wood, and so
survived for a time. But in consequence
of the continued darkness even this last
remnant of human existence was about
to perish. In this emergency 4 young
girl of the family, suddenly inspired
with the idea that she might save the
race by an act of self-sacrifice. threw
herself upon the fire which served the
despairing sufferers for light. Her
body was speedily reduced to ashes; but
on the moment she arose, perfect and
apparently unframed. in the eastern
SKY. surrounded with balos Of surpass-
ing glory. The darkness began to dis
appear before the new sun, and the last
family of the Natchez was saved.
This wonderful girl became the chief
of the tribe, and it was decreed that her
nearest female relative should be her
successor. The worship of the sun,
which she had rivaled in brilliancy at
her resurrection, was at once estab-
lished. and. in addition to this, a per-
petual fire was kept, called the Living
sacrifice of the sacred fire;'' and it was
the belief of the survivors that so long
as this fire blazed upon their affairs, the
Natchez would be powerful and happy.
On the spot where the sacrificed maid
en- was reincarnated, where the fire fell
from heaven and surrounded her with
glory, they built their great mound to
indicate that their wanderings were at
an end.
1t was only on this mound and at the
festival of fruits that the priestess of the
S,,u sbnuad barSef IN the Deonle af