The Hazlehurst signal., 1884-02-21
BURNING THE WHITE DOG.

BURNING THE WHITE DOG.
Peculiar Ceremony OF the Pagan Onou.
dagas Near >yrscuse-An Onsring to tho
Great split Tor the foTgiNcneS. of the
Last Year. >Ins of the Indian Nation.
Modern civilization and ancient bar.
barity wcrc strangely blended in this
township to-day. where, within sight of
the stecplcs Of Syracuse. the OnontaIa
Indians held their feast Of burning
the White Doc" These Savagcs have
a reservation near here. which j. abnu,
eight times ~ big aS Central Park. The
major part ot IL is u lovely valley,
shielded by hills that st,llrciain the for
csts nature clad them with. Ia this
valley. in tumble-down Shautics. some
built of logs with plastercd cracks, and
some being ordinary frame dwellings,
live four hundred Indians, principally
OnundagaS. hut embracing few sur.
vivors oil the famous Six Nations II u
century AGO. They have been slightly
affected by civilization. \ few are
Christians. A few work their little
farms in an indolrnt. clumsy mann r,
and for the rest they hunt and fish, play
Indian games. drink ~ much rum ~
they can get, and preserve their old
tribal Government almost rs il was
when they trol this soil unchal!cngcd.
Their houses stard far apart along the
winding roads Of the valley. and at the
junction Of these roads their castle or
cuuncil-housc stands. II j. n one-:tory
frame building with many windows and
n door On each side, and looks like q
country school-hOuSc.
Out of nearly every house came chiefs,
warriors aud Squaws. a!l sta king with
the stride peculiar To old Bowcry tra-
gcdianS over the sparkling snow. They
wore the same clothing a, thc people ot
Syracuse. although IL was - n rule
threalbarc and ill-iitting. There were
ecccntricities in their drr,S not o6Scrv-
able in the city. however. The women,
for instance. wore no hats, but covered
their heads with shawlS or squares OF
blue cloth, the end, ~ which fell tO
their breasts and were held there under
their folded arms. Some Of them, too,
had their legs covered with buckShin
lcggingS, prc,tily drcked with beads and
porcupinc feathers. l'glin">S more
hidcOus than that of the o!d SquawS,
who.c faces were sramcl like peach.
stones, IL would be difficult to imagine.
Their white hair against their cOlcc-
cOlOscd skin looked strangely unnatural
The little girls were rather pretty.
Their glossy black hair. bright JET eyes,
plump brun 'cd check, AMI their straight
noses and Shapcly mouths mad" them
attractive. The young wives were not
80 prcscntab'c Hard work hai thiuned
their faces, So that their chcck-bone'
stood out and their eyes were SunLrn in.
All wore bright-cOlOred shawls. II
must Ec said for them that they neither
looked nor acted like the drpravod and
wrctchcd beings their converted fellow
Indians say they arr.
The warriors wcrc nearly all tall.
fncly.built men. dark skinned. with
straight features anil Jet black hair.
They were ~ fond OF color as their
women. though the only means they
had for display was in bright wor>tcl
scarfs that they wound around their
neckS. The men sat On benches At one
end Of the cOuncil-hall. The women
were al the other end. Too room was
barc-,lOOrcd. aud no ornaments broke
the squares of wall paper between the
Window There was big wood stove
n, each end OF the apartment.
When all had gathered and were seat
cd there was long pause. No man or
woman uttered u word. They did not
even salute one another. They were
waiting for the medicine. Ia bring
in the white dog. which. by the way.
was n eur that had belonged tn Jake
Farmer. warrior. and had been hanged
until dead in Jake's hou'e and then
daubcd with red spots. The white hide
represented purity, the rcd spots were
symbolical OF blood-oiierlng. and the
whole celebration was the Indian OBJ
seryance of n combination OF New Year :
Day and Thanksgiving. when the last
years sins We're supposed TO have en-
tered into the cur in readiness TO be
burned up.
Tom Webster was the mcdicine-man.
The last of long race OF hereditary
priests. he belongs to the clan Of Tawis-
ta-wis-tas or Snipes, and they, and the
clans Of Ugh-qua-e AMI Skan-un-tunS.
the Bears and the Deer. were over
across the campus in dwelling. There
were only twenty or thirty warriors and
squaws and four chiefs there, 80 slender
have the Snipcs. Bears and Deer
grown; but the Wolves, Mud-Turtlcs
and Beavers filed the biz igcoun;il-houSc.
Suddenly Mcdicinc-Man Webster ap-
pcarcd in the doorway before the
throng. which at once exclaimed
"Ughl' rs though he was a biz dose
Of medicine they all had 10 swallow.
He wore maroon-colorcd handker-
chief. held ON his head by gold band.
above which. in front. waved a long.
broad plume. His face was streaked
with black paint on background OF
red. Beneath all this be wore n WELL
worn twelve-dollar business suit. Be-
hind him stalked typical logwood-eol-
orcd farmer. and behind him brave,
who carried the dog. Its neck was
dcckedwith blue ribbons. and its tall
was done up in red love-Snot. Other
ribbons were woabd around It's body.
As IL was borne in the men and women.
with one voice. uttered the yell with
which the red nan descend upon the
gentle white maiden in one OF Hon.
William ii. Cody's aboriginal melo-
dramas. The dogs legs were tied to-
gether with q rope. and. the medicine