Omaha daily bee., 1888-05-20
THE INDIAN and HIS RATIONS
An interesting Letter From the Sioux
Reservation.
THE el.MoNTHLy 1uTcHERlNes
The Fourth of fully orthe Dusky Abor-
igine Lively Scenes at h Store
A Day Among the Chiefs, Their
squaws and Pappooses.

PIERRE, Oak, May l7.-[Spccial Cor
respondence OF the BEE. Ration day,
which comes upon the first and third
Monday of each month, year in and year
out, has more significance with the
Sioux Indians, than the Fourth of July
with the young hopeful of the American
continent, and il one has q desire to see
the American savage in all of his ignor-
ance, innocence, and unadorned beauty
and primitive Indianess, all he has to do
is TO visit one of the many agencies upon
one of these occasions.
Cheyenne agency, situated upon the
west bank Of the Missouri, t~hirty-ive
miles above this city, where 5000 of
Uncle. Sans wards partake at the gov
eminent larder, is no exception to the
general rules that apply to Indian agen-
cies, and is q point where man ideas
can be learned regarding Indian life as
it exists in this day and age Of the
world.
The day opens up early in the morn
ing, and all is life, stir and hustle, a
spirit of get to the front for once seems
to be the all absorbing thought Of the
copper colored native Of the plains.
The tall, stately Int solemn chiefs,
with their glossy raven locks, wound
with otter fur and ornamented with
SdSiO lCdthClS, ShbiCi Al Sloups vi
stoically and majestically stalk in front
of the agents office, waiting for the
opening of the doors of the store house,
while hundreds OF squaws, clad in still
dirtier garments of bright colored
calico and gay blankets, branded, U. s.
|. D., squat upon the ground and
screech like a bevy of brown patridges.
as they wait for the business por-
ton of the day. The young
scions of the tribe are not idle, but with
bows, arrows and an unerring al IN are
popping away at about everything hat
is visible to the naked eye. The Indian
is not a politician in the literal transla-
ton of the term, but in the gathering
can be seen objects that lead one to
think that they have their political
preferences, and this idea is more forci-
bly, impressed upon the mind of the by
stander as he counts the dozens Of
Blaine" and "Cleveland' tiles, hat
looked at from a standpoint of present
condition, may have done radiant SER
vice in many a ward caucus.
Now and then a genuine Mikado fan
appears, being borne by a daughter of
the tribe, all of which adds a kind of
hotch pot elegance to the motley as
sembly.
One of the most interesting features
of the day is When the doors of the store
house are thrown open and the issue
begins. Going into the large building,
which is occupied for this purpose, you
find the agent, DR.. Charles e. McChes-
ney, and his chief clerk, Douglas F.
Carlin, assisted by a number of under
clerks and interpreters, all busy, porting
over large rolls of papers, containing
the name of every Indian on the agency
over the age of eighteen years, and if
the head of a family, the number of
persons hat his family contains. Every
article that goes out of this ware house
is charged upon the agency books to
the Indian who receives t ,and hisname
is checked as he receives his semi
monthly allowance. All is in read
mess for the beginning of the issue, and
the ball opens by the clerk, calling the
names from the roll, and as an Indian
responds to the roll call, he waltzes to
the front and is given a ticket of tough
check" upon which is written his name
and the names of the members of his
family, dependent (?l upou him for sup
port. This ticket passes him into the
warehouse where the agency goods are
stored. Here the best OF order pre-
walls, as a number Of Indian policemen
are ranged about the room, their duty
being to keep order, and allow only a
limited number to enter at one time. AS
soon as the authorized head of the
family enters This warehouse, his
ticket is k up by the clerk,
who calls to III assistant the name of
the Indian and the number Of rations
to which he is entitled, the number of
rations corresponding with the number
of persons in his family. The rations,
consisting of flour, bacon, ugar, coffee,
rice and salt. are trundled out and
bundled into a sack, to be carried away
by the squaw, who, under her burden,
patiently trudges away to camp to await
the coming of her lazy liege ord and
master, for in this respect the Indian
has his helpmeet under more thorough
subsection than his white brother, MAX
ing her chop the wood, build the fires,
bring the water and do about all the
work about the premises. Very fire.
quently the Indian will attempt to mis-
lead the agent by claiming more mem
bers in his family than there
really are, but in this he
is usually detected and there
after is the butt of ridicule and is guyed
by the whole tribe. And again, an In
dian will have the most positive and
convincing evidence of an increase in
his family, the evidence being in the
form of a papoose, born since the last
ration day. When this occurs. as it
frequently does, the new arrival is
/ DioihpSS fSbS 'B'' ia ooN W StO
agency and thereafter comes in for its
regular share of rations at the govern
ment crib. This feature of the case has
a tendency to stimulate he Indian To
marry and go into the occupation Of
raising a family, for the reason that
while the little one cannot eat as niue h
flour, bacon and beef as an adult, it can
draw the same with most surprising
regularity.
So far nothing has happened TO
mar the monotony of the day, but the
wild bloody and exciting exer-
cises are to come. Upon the banks
Of a small, muddy and quiet creek,
about forty rods from the agency build
ings, is located the slaughter-house aud
st0ckade, which are enclosed by a high
fence, built of strong planks, inside OF
which are some seventy-fve head OF
tall, lank, long-horned Texas steers,
just from the range and of the widest
type. These animals are to be killed to
furnish beef for the Indians during the
next two weeks, or until another ration
day rolls around. The hour for the
slaughter has arrived and a general