Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1886-04-08
WEIRD NOMINATIONS.



The Chinook Dance As Praeticed BY the
Takima Indians.
The Takima Indians held their an
nual Tum-animus dance and feast re-
Gently on the reservation Just below
Union Gap. Blue, white and orange
flags marked the long, low building or
shack where the exercises were being
conducted. The medicine house, for so
it proved to be, was about seventy feet
in length and completely covered with
tule mating. From the inside came
the monotonous chant of many voices
and the steady beating of Indian drums.
but although the Signal representative
and young lady who accompanied him
walked completely around the structure
they could find no entrance, and were
debating S plan of action when q fly of
the mating suddenly flew up immedi-
atelv in front of them, and the hideous
painted face of Enthusiastically clad
siwash presented itself to view and near
ly scared the young lady into convul-
sions. A friendly wave of the hand,
however, disarmed fear and ushered the
pilgrims before a scene of barbaric
splendor and grotesqueness.
On platform covered with skins. at
one end of the lodge. Indian children
were crowded. and in front of the lit
tie ones was the orchestra of six huge
bucks with instruments which appeared
to be made of sheep-skin stretched over
empty cheese boxes. Along the length
of the temple or lodge were ranged the
bucks on one side and the klootchmen.
on the other. They were all clad in
gorgeous costumes, and the many
colored blankets and prints gave q
rainbow appearance to the worshipers.
Their faces were painted with orange,
blue, red and white paints. and when
there was any considerable space Of
solid color there would appear fairly
well-executed figures of moons, stars.
birds and beasts in contrasting tints.
All had fans of feathers, and many
wore head-dresses of the furs. feathers,
and even the horns of animals
There are various pum-pums during
| the year for divers objects. the one just
celebrated being the Tum-aninus, or
Chinook dance, held for the purpose
of propitiating the deity and bringing
on the warm winds from the Orient to
carry off the SHOWS. When the winters
are unusually hard the Indians do Sc
we're penance, and three years ago. when
the cattle and cayuses were dying by the
| hundreds, the Tum-animus issued for
! ten DAYS, and the self-infiicted
punishments were of rigid nature.
| The next observance is the festival OF
the ..reburial of the dead, when the
bones of Indians who have died or been
killed will be exhumed, covered with
new blankets and exposed to the view OF
relations. Then comes the salmon dance.
at which the Great Spirit is entreated to
send free run of this succulent fish
which forms so prominent a factor in the
Indian food supply.
The recent Tum-animus was under
the direction of Co-ti-ah-kin, the head
medicine man, who directed the observ-
ances by means of bell. For hours and
hours the Indians would dance and chant
their songs, which are not devoid Of
| harmony. until tired nature could bear
no longer, and then they would fall on
their knees and offer up their '.amens'
| to the exhortations of the medicine man.
The singing and prayers were all in the
native language. and even the lockers
on. who were familiar with the '.jar-
gon," were unable to catch the drift OF
the importunings. The weird scene
was one not soon to be forgotten BY
those who were fortunate enough to b
present-T;dksnld ~ I'd Signal.