Evening journal., 1889-06-11
TIE SIOUX INDIANS.
col. ALLISON, THE FAMOUS SCOUT,
TALKS or. THEM.

The Language Of the Tribe-siny Stories
About the Indians Which Have No Foam
dation IN Fact-AIlisOn's Experience with
Sitting Bull.
In 1862 a l5-year-old boy named Edward
II. 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 emi-
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
than Col. Edward II. Allison, of Dakota As
Interpreter at the Standing Rock agency he
has been for years in constant, intimate com
muncation with the Sioux, and is couse-
quantity familiar with their virtues vices and
peculiarlties. A broad brimmed white slouch
hat covers his head. The remainder of his
apparel Is the same as that affected by deni-
zens Of the east Hs is n well educated and
vely intelligent man, which accounts for the
success he has had as Interpreter and com
missioner among the Indians. He is a pleas
Ing converser and thinker.
BEAUTIES or THE SIOUX LANGUAGE
"Do you speak the Sioux language as we'll
as you DO the English," he was assed
~ speak it much better. / profess to be
a master Of but one language, and that is the
SioHx. have spoken more Sioux than Eng
lish during my life. and as it is much less ex-
tensive 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 mon
who have a pretty good idea Of it, but most
Of those who are supposed to understand it
have some very wrong impressions regard
ing IT,"
"Ilow extensive a language is itF
"There are over %, 900 words ia the Sioux
tongue, but these are susceptible of multipli
cation, so that the total is greatly increased
The language is a very elastic one. If you
speak IN English Of your brother, the hcarcr
cannot tell whether it is a younger or an
elder brother, unless a qualifying word is
prefxed. In the Sioux language, however,
a slight variation Of a single word tells you
just. what kind of a brother is referred TO-
For example, the word "misun" pronounced
uiee-soonl means younger brother, while
''IRiciyen pronounced mee-shec-yavl means
elder brother. The same rule applies in other
cases. Tho phonetic system Of spelling il
used"
Are not the early interpretations Of the
Indian language defective9n
"Extremely so. For example, take the
silly story about the naming Of Sitting Bull
1t is said that shortly after his birth, hi
mother saw bull that had been wounded in
the back sitting on tho ground, and immedi.
ately named her son Sitting Bull That is alb
surd. \ bull never sits. The name of tho best
known Indian in the United States is not Sit
ting Bull, but Conquering Bull Among the
Indians the bull is regarded as the king OF
animals and they believe he can Kill the
grizzly bear
another fcllacy is the term Great Spirit
which is so frequently put into the mouths
of Indians by writer's The Indian word for
God is "NVa-kan-tan -lSa.n Wa-kaa 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
"It Is very amusing to me 20 hear writers
of the Ned Buntlinc sort make Indians talk
Of the happy hunting grounds. In tho twenty.
two years | have been among the Indians
never heard them speak of such place.
Then these legends about DEVILS Lake are all
bosh. What does an Indian know aboun
devilsg The name Of the lake in Indian is
Mime Wa-Kan.' Mime means water and
We-kan mystery, or mysterious water II
is probable that some thirsty Indian at some
time stopped down 70 get a drink and after
getting mouthful of the salt water naturally
set it down as somewhat mysterious"
THE TRtBE 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 a 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 Tho Sioux, however, use nc
signs when talking among themselves"
There is general impression that the
Indians are gradually dying out as a racen
THAT is wrong so far as the Sioux are
concerned. There are now $1,000 Sioux ii
Minnesota, Dakota and Montana, and they
are steadily increasing in numbers. They
comprise one-sixth of the Indians ia the
United States They are the typical NORTH
American Indian, the dominant tribe anl
the superiors physically and mentally Of al
1t was Allison who succeeded in bringing
about the surrender of Sitting Bull in Canada
aud brought him and his chiefs into th;
agency. He proposed to the government tC
bring the Indians ia when they first left tho
reservation without loss of life, at small
expense. This was declined, and numerou,
! expeditions We're sent out, which resulted IL
nothing but largo loss Of life and money II
1850 Allison on his own hook, went TO Bulli
camp and returning made report TO til,
government. In October of that year he wa
authorized to act as commissioner, and ia si2
months had the Indians all in.
Allison was the first scout employed in Da
kota by Custer. He asserts that but for tht
cowardiceof Cen Reno Custer would be aliv,
today.
Col. Allison also served for five years wifi
Lieut. Kislingbury, who perished in Oh,
Greely expedition, and is said to have beer
eaten by his crazed and starving companions
Allison says that Kislingbury was one of th'
uoblest men who lived, as well as one of til,
bravest.-Detroit Free Press.
Land of Romance.
Half theenchantment Of Italy is gone wher
we lose sight of the Mediterranean, SAYS