The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-03-23
m AS HE IS SEEN AT HOME
s.ill a Good Deal of a Savage Despite
Civilizing Influences.
From the 1fil,catlkes Journal.

II is common saying in the west that
ga dead Indian is the only good Indian"
remark perhaps little too sweeping IN its
snnlieatiou. Our Indaa popul 4tion num-
hers $50. 900, and all west Of the Mississippi,
o~cant 10000. None ore hostile except
few in the southwest along tho Mexi-
can frontier. The total number belonging
IN agencies under supervision OF religious
bodies is officially reported in round figure
ar go 900. The Methodists lead In the mum
her under spiritual guidance, having tiftee
agencies with oversight Of $4,000. The
PTesbyterians come close up with the over
e,qbt of $4,000. Next the Episcopalians'
With 95 0O0; then the Roman Catholics Wit
% 600 and then the American Missionary
As ociation, or Cougrega ionalists, with
"a COO The Christians have 10000, with
smaller numbers under the direction of the
Raptlst, Unitarian, and other denomiHa-
tions There are not less than 800 schools
ON the various reservations. The Indian
child. as a rule, is an apt scholar
The Blackfcet and allied tribes, the
Piegans, Bloods, Gros Ventres and River
Grows Of North Montana are looked after
Inv the MathodiSts. In early years the
Catholic missionaries, whose service is more
attractive, worked with signal success
among the Blackfeet, and several missions
were organized aud several thousand III
dams baptized in that faith. Lame Bull,
head chief of the Gros Ventres, wears spec
tecles and q "biled' shirt, smokes a clay plpe,
has two wives, speaks Engllsh and is pretty
clever Indian.
Since the disappearance of large game
and the degeneracy of the Indian into
suppliant for government aid, he Is not as
much Of a man as he was When sur
rounded by a large white population, as in
the east something may he expected of
him: but the average reservatio Indian
now has little to do except to gamble and
horse race while waiting for government
rations The Indian woman does all OF the
work, pitches the tepee, gathers wood,
cooks, cares for the horses, etc. She is con
sidered property as much as horse, and
the husband can sell his life as the father
sells his daughter. 1t is considered effemi-
nate in an Indian to show affection for his
wife.
The home, lodge or tepee of..the plain In
dian is conical in shape and made of hides
or canvas stretched on framework of
poles 1t depends on the size OF the family
for its size, but is seldom more than 30 feet
in diameter and Is feet high. The fire is
built in the center, and the smoke escapes
from a hole in the top, which, being
guarded by winged cap, usually prevents
the wind from blowing ia. The draught.
however, is not perfect by any means,
too full Of smoke for any one not
used to it. 1t is not easily over
turned by storm and little fuel keeps
it warm. The beds are made Of robes and
blankets spread on the ground close to the
outer part, and serve during the day for
seats They are never made up" as the
white housewife understands the term. The
Indian is not selfish, and so fond of COM
pany that most tepees contain more than
one family. All 1--we, sleep, cook and eat in
the little space and when pots, kettles d
supplies are brought inside during the cold
A.. -. z-s.1 81 h.
frightfully unclean. The wives Of an In
dian able to have several all sleep in the
same bed.
Like white gambler with his diamonds,
the Indian can make his wive source of
revenue by selling them when misfortune
comes upon him. Living as they do, there
IS a total absence OF privacy and modesty
in the domes ic life Of an Indian. From
hard work, the Indian women ate rot pro-
life and rarely have more than three or
4 four children. The mother has early charge
Il of her little ores, and soon teaches them
not to cry by holding her hand
over their mouths and pinching their
noses until they are almost suifo-
n Gated, and they soon learn that
H silence is the bes policy. This habit was
adopted to prevent outcries in times of
peril.' The Indians live much in the open
air, and children brought to the agency
schools are usually so far-sighted that they
printed page. Adults are usually impatient
in illness, and seldom survive protr cted or
severe spells of sickness. They eat most
everything, meat heretofore being their
main subsistence but where the govern
ment is trying to make farmers Of them
they take readily to vegetables. In their
tepee life they have no regular hours
for meals, but eat when hungry, usually
boiling their dried meat. Birds, repti!e }
and small game they cat entrails and all,
and generally raw and while blood-warm.
All of them wear more or less Of the cloth
Il ing Of white men-pa is giving them more
trouble TO get used to than any other gar
ment. An indians idea of full dress is to
heap everything he has on himself, and then
he IS not IN full toggery unless his face is
besmeared with paint, sometimes quite ar
tstlcaily streaked, or worked into figures.
Most OF the agents prefer Indian police
to preserve order, and when so employed
they are dressed in army uniforms, mounted
and well armed. They are picked men, and
always loyal and faithful to duty When
thls great cattle range becomes well settled
II by whites many of these Indians will be-
81 come herdmen, and in that way make
N themselves useful. The Blackfeet have
81 large reservation, some 20,000,000 acres
next in Size in the country after the Sioux
hi reservation in Dakota, but commission
III last year arranged with them to cede 49,
Fl VV,OO0 to the government, they to take
Fl Vnree small reservations
81 They only number about 1900 and the
81 $4,000 acres they retain is more than
tuey need, but the cover lment is to give
M Them stock and farm machinery, and it IS
hoped that real good Give" Indians Fcan be
made of them.
railroad was extended through this
Section last year skirting the valleys of the
# nts0url aud MIX rivers, thence to the
<# mountains. Railroad building in the west
mas become marvel Tire iron rail pene-
rates the solitudes and tho engine calls for
D1e settler, who comes, and as surely as the
Po" turns over the sod, the rain cloud fol-
Qws, and the tradesman POUNDS the village
way hastens to be a town and stops net
uutl u Is city. To-day the surveyor lays
yut the town, and tomorrow. as if By
mage the city is seen, full fedged and
Gfe '10 O"'' 0N'' s''' VI