Wichita eagle., 1889-06-29
THE SIOUX INDIANS.
COL ALLISON, THE FAMOUS SCOUT,
TALKS OF THEM.

The Language Of the Tribe-siIly Stories
About the Indians Which Have No Foun-
dation In Fact-AIIison's Experience with
Sitting Bull.
In 1862 15-year old boy named Edward
a. Allison ran away from his home at Ann
Arbor, Mich, and joined the Tenth Ohio
cavalry at Toledo He served throughout
the entire war, at the close of which he emil
grated to the west, and for twenty-five years
has led the stirring life Of scout and inter
prefer among the Sioux Indians, and today
there is no more famous scout In the country
shan Col Edward a. Allison, of Dakota. As
interpreter at the Standing Rock agency he
has been for years in constant, intimate COM
munication with the Sioux, and is conse-
ouently familiar with their virtues, vices and
peculiarities A broad brimmed white SLOUGH
hat covers his head. The remainder of his
apparel is the same as that affected by deni-
zans of the east He Is a well educated and
very intelligent man, which accounts for the
Success he has had as interpreter and COM
missioner among the Indians. He Is pleas
ing converser and thinker.
BEAUTIES OF THE SIOUX LANGUAGE.
''Do you speak the Sioux language as well
as YOU do the Englishn he was asked.
II speak it much better. profess to be a
a master of but one language, and that is the
Sioux. have spoken more Sioux than Eng
nsh during my life, and as it is much less e1-
teDsive than the English language, is much
easier to master Then have, / believe, an
analytical knowledge of every word in the
Sioux tongue, which is more than any man
can have of the English language. There is
a very limited knowledge extant of the In
dian language. There are one or two men
who have pretty good idea of it. but most
of those who are supposed to understand it
have some very wrong impressions regard
ing it."
How extensive a language is it?"
There are over q, 900 words in the Sioux
tongue, but these are susceptible of muldpli-
cation. so that the total is greatly increased.
The language is a very elastic one If you
speak in English Of your brother, the nearer
cannot tell whether it is a younger or an
elder brother, unless a qualifying word is
pref1ed In the Sioux language, however,
slight variation of single word tells you
just what kind Of brother is referred to-
For example, the word ''misun" pronounced
mee-soon) means younger brother, while
elder brother. The same rule applies in other
cases The phonetic system of spelling is
used"
"Are not the early interpretations of the
Indian language defectivef'
Extremely so. For example, take the
silly story about the naming of Sitting Bull.
1t is said that shortly after his birth, his
mother saw bull that had been wounded in
the back sitting on the ground, and immedi-
ately named her son Sitting Bull. That is abb
surd A bull never sits. The name of the best
known Indian in the United States is not Sit
ting Bull, but Conquering Bull. Among the
Indilns the bull is regarded as the king of
animals, and they believe he can kill the
grizzly bear.
sAnother fallacy is the term Great Spirit,
which is 50 frequently put into the mouths
of Indians by writer's. The Indian word for
God i, "Wa-kan-tan-ka." Wa-kan means
mystery, and tan-ka great, and there you
have the great mystery. Anything that is
deformed is wa-kan, or mysterious, and
therefore sacred. The Indians are spiritual
lists IN religion, but believe that they control
the spirits instead of the spirits controlling
them
sit is very amusing to me to hear writers
of the Ned Buntlne sort make Indians talk
of the happy hunting grounds. In the twenty
two years have been among the Indians 1
never heard them speak of such a place
Then these legends about Devils Lake are al
bosh. What does an Indian know about
devilss The name Of the lake in Indian is
Mime Wa+Kan' Mime means water and
Wa-Kan mystery, or mysterious water 1t
is probable that some thirsty Indian at some
time stopped down to get drink, and after
getting mouthful of the salt water naturally
set it down as somewhat mysterious"
THE TRIBE INCREASING.
"To return to the customs of the Sioux:
we hear great deal about Indian marriage
ceremonies There Is not now and never has
been such thing. They simply mate. An
other thing in connection with the Indian
language is that members of different tribes
do not understand each other and use the
sign language The Sioux, however, use no
signs when talking among themselves"
There is q general impression that the
Indians are gradually dying out as a race"
"rhat is wrong so far as the Sioux are
concerned There are now 50, 900 Sioux in
Minnesota, Dakota and Montana, and they
are steadily increasing in numbers. They
comprise one-sixth Of the Indians in the
United States. They are the typical North
American Indian, the dominant tribe and
the superiors physically and mentally of all
others.n
1t was Allison who succeeded in bringing
about the surrender of Sitting Bull In Canada,
and brought him and his chiefs into the
agency. He proposed to the government to
bring the Indians in when they first left the
reservation, without loss OF life, at small
expense. This was declined, and numerous
expeditions were sent out, which resulted in
nothing but large loss of life and money. In
1850 Allison on his own hook, went to Bulls
camp, and returning made report TO the
government. In October Of that year he was
authorized to act as commissioner, and in six
months had the Indians all in
Allison was the first scout employed IL Da-
kota by Custer. He asserts that but for the
cowardiceof Cen Reno Custer would be alive
today.
Col Allison also served for five years with
Lieut. Kislingbury, who persisted in the
Greedy expedition, and is said to have been
eaten by his crazed and starving companions
Allison says tina. Kislingbury was ono Of the
noblest men who lived, as well as one Of the
bravest-Detroit Free Press
He Deserved . Medal
Jusescs-Did you say the defendant picked
the lady's pocket while passing her On the
street,
Counsea for Plaintif-He did, your honor.
Jassice-The prisoner Is bcnorably dis
charged And if be viii come and take seat
On the bench for about two minutes wiz cut