St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1885-12-12

Most of them were clad in the gayes
attire, which consists of buckskin leg
gins. a long shirt of gaudy calico. pro
fusely ruffied, and blanket. Tht
brighter the blanket the more it i.
priced, and one of vivid green or flaming
red is always selected in preference
to any other. About each Indian's
head is worn shawl of many colofs
made into sort of turban. Cheal
jewelry is highly priced, and it is nc
unusual sight to see dozen brass rings
on braves hands. They are worn
without any regard to fingers, all being
treated alike: and if ring happens to
be too large for the largest finger, il
goes on the thumb. The effect of a ring
with a prodigious .'stone" in it worn
on the thumb is very striking, to say the
least. though l presume it would look
''all right" when one got used to it.
Beads are highly priced among the In
dians. and some of them seem to have
bought them by the pound instead of
the string, Judging by the quantity
worn.
At one side the squaws and pappooses
were grouped together. Neither of
these elements of the tribe are allowed
to take part in the powwow. Among
these Indians. as among most tribes,
the women are considered of but little
account; they are obliged to do the hard
work about the camp, cook, take care
OF the pappooses and act as beasts of
burden when the camp is broken up. l
have often seen great, healthy Indians
| mounted on ponies SO small that the
riders feet barely escaped the ground.
| while in the rear the poor sguaw was
plodding along under load of kettles,
mats Of woven rushes, of which part of
the wigwam is built, and pappoose.
The ''brave" tries to look very dignitied
in his gaudy blanket. with a gun across
his horse, in front of him, and always a
clay pipe in his mouth, and as general
thing so much dirt on his face that no
amount of war paint, provided he used
the article, would show through. He
always seems to be satisfied with his ap-
pearance, and the poor, patient squaw
looks at him with admiration expressed
on her rather inexpensive face. The
old or last years blanket is turned over
to her on the arrival of the new ones,
and she never has the opportunity to
make such brilliant display as her lord
and master does. Her dresses, how
ever-for all the women of these tribes
wear sort of s.AIother Hubbard" gown
are always gorgeous during the early
stage OF their existence; but as this stage
is limited to the first three or four days,
grease and dirt take possession of them
after that time. the poor squaw enjoys
only a brief and fleeting glory, and sub
sides into the general squalor which
makes all of them look alike. The
pappooses wear but one garment from
spring to cold weather, a sort of shirt of
bright calico, which is never washed,
and never is taken of. so far as could
judge, until it wears off.
As we stood there, we saw the Indians
forming into line at one side of the
circle of fires. Pretty soon we heard
humping that was kept up in regular
time, and none of us. with the exception
of Brown, knew how it was produced.
We found afterward that it was made |
by striking on thin pieces of hemlock |
fastened over a box-like Frame These |
pieces were struck with sticks, and the |
vibrations of the wood gave out feeble
imitation of the sound of drum; a
sound which can be heard long way
off, but is utterly lacking in ability to
give pleasure to any but an Indians ear.
Perhaps it is used at these powwows be-
cause it does not give pleasure. If that is
the case, it is appropriately selected, for
the monotonous thump, thump. thump,
soon became almost unbearable to us.
One by one the Indians left the line they
had formed and sprang into the space be-
tween the fires and the mound, uttering
low, dismal shrieks and cries. After
the ring was completed about the
mound sort of a dance began, which
seemed to be on the '.go-as-yOu-please"
order. for there was no regularity about
it. Each Indian seemed to extemporize
A step of his own, and the variety was
sufficient to relieve this part
Of the performance of the charge of
sameness. Presently the music grew
faster, and the cries of the dancers be-
came louder. Such wild. dismal sounds
never heard before. They haunted
ne all night. At regular intervals the
iancers would face the mound and give
ltterance to howl in chorus-it could
,e called nothing else with due regard
% truth-and the effect was anything
,ut pleasant; just as l have imagined
warriors to howl when
calping victims.
The dance was kept up for perhaps ,
lalf an hour-as long, should Judge,
$ the participants could stand it with
ut becoming tired, something an In
Ian always objects to on principle.
''Guess we'd better go down an talk !
nth 'em little,r said Brown, and we ,
ollowed him down the ledge and into :
he camp. The squaws mumbled and !
battered about us to each other as we ,
assed them, the pappooses eyed us !
eenly and curiously, and the ..braves" 5
-elcomed us with eager demands for
toback' and whisky. Whisky is not
llowed an Indian. and any one selling
to him is fined or imprisoned when :
he offence is proved. There is nothing '
a Indian will not do to gratify his
lste for liquor. He will even work in :
lazy fashion. if he thinks he will get :
rink of whisky at the end of it. We !,
nd none for them. but Brown turned 4
yer to them all the .'toback" he had, :
I'D the four or five who were fortunate !
lough to get chew gave grunts of
e