The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1890-12-07
How an American Juggler
Might Settle the Trouble.
STORIES OF MEDICINE MEN.
A Strong Man Surprised by Electricity
Joke on Red Cloud-Scarins
an Apache Doctor.

themselves III the words OF General Sherl-
dan, to the effect that 1.-The best Indian Is q
dead Indian" One OF the best Indian
authorities in the United States is Captain
Bourke, who was on General Crooks staff
Tor eighteen years, ald who has spent
the most of his life upon the frontier.
Captain Bourke has mace a study of the
Indians. He has written q number of in
teresting books about them. aud he is now
writing volume for the government on In
dian medicine men. He knows more
about the dances of the Sioux and the
other Indians than anyone in the
country, and it was he who gave
to the National museum a necklace of
human fingers which he captured from an
Indian medicine man. 1 talked with MIN
last night about this phase OF Indian char
acter. SAID he:
The Indians are very superstitious.
They believe in the supernatural and an
adroit sleight-of-hand performer can have
great influence over them. One way to
beat them is to fight them with their own
fire by sending first-class American
jugglers out 10 them. When the medicine
men of the tribe do their woHders let these
jugglers perform their tricks, and the
power OF the medicine men will wane.
1 his was the method / pursued in my
work with them. / never discredited the
power OF any of the medicin. men. / only
told them that my medicine was better
than their medicine, and that l could do
great deal more than they could"
HOW ELECTRICITY DowHEp CHIEF.
al had once an old electric battery with
me when visited big camp of these
sioux. There was some excitement at the
time, and the medicine men were Boosting
what they could do. / arranged my bat
terry and took a silver dollar and placed it
it pan OF water. and told their best medi-
cine men that | would give the one who
could pull it out S.. provided he took hold
OF the BRASS handle OF the battery with one
hand and picked the coin out with the
other. There were perhaps thousand
Indians looking at US, and they conceived
deep reverence for me as they
saw the most famous of their medicine
men attempt to do this, and fail, being
almost thrown into commissions in the
attempt. At last one of the strongest In
dians in the West came up to make the
trial. He seized the battery and made
grab for the dollar. The electricity went
through him like shot and he kicked the
battery all to pieces. He wanted to try it
again and we patched the battery up, and
he finally succeeded in getting the dollar,
owing to the weakness of the current
furnished by the broken battery. He was
twisted out of shape almost by the effort,
and the Indians Of that camp looked upon
me for the time as a great medicine man."
LITTLE BIG MAN AND THE YANKEE JUaGLER.
AT another time / was at a san dance
of one of the Sioux Indian tribes and an
American juggler who was quite sleight-
of-hand performer begged to be allowed to
go along with me. / thought he might do
some good and took him. / shall not for
get how he astonished the Indians. He
went up 10 one Of the chiefs. and with
out warning gave him slap on
the side OF the cheek, nearly knocking
him over. Then with his other hand he
got hold of the other cheek and apparently
pulled so gold piece out of 1t. while the
rest of the Indians looked on with OPEN
mouthed wonder. He went up to another
chief who rejoiced in the title of Little Big
Man. and grabbing him by the nose. pulled
$40 gold piece out OF his nose much 70 the
chiefs surprise. This chief was with me
during nearly the whole of the day and ne
evidently did not get over the impression
he had received. l saw him q number of
times, and when he thought ] was not
looking he would pull his blanket up over
his nose and feel the end of it to see il there
was not some more s2o gold pieces where
the other one had come from"
A SCARED APACHE DOCTOR.
81 remember another medicine man,
big Apache. who called upon me in the
surgeons Office of one of the stations.
was very anxious TO see his medicine
charm, which he carried carefully con.
cealed under his shirt, and which not even
the other Indians ever saw. l told him I
knew he was great medicine man, but
that believed that my medicine was bet.
ter than his medicine. and with that /
picked up bottle of nitric acid. 1t was
not bigger than your thumb. / said: i
will put a drop of this on your
tongue, and in one minute 1 will
burn a hole clear through it. He
opened bis eyes. but when l again
asked him to stick out his tongue he said
he believed could do it and that he would
not test my skill. then picked up bottle
Of chloroform aud said: Here is more Of
my medicine. II you smell this can put
you to sleep and no one can wake you un-
til want to wake you, and with thIs,'
Il
dead By this time he was thoroughly
scared, and he showed me the wonderful
taIisman by which he performed his tricks.
1t was a channels bag covered with mysteri.
Gus characters He wore il over his chest
and il never left him night or day."
HOW IsDIAs MEDICINE MEN WORK.
I visited the National Museum this
morning, and took look at the specimens
OF Indian doctors in it's collection. One
form of the Sioux medicine man has a
bear skin over MS shoulders and a bears
head upon his head, and he walks along
with an arrow adorned with feathers as
his staff The Alaskans have their medi-
cine men, and there is an ivory carving
from Alaska showing the Indian doctor
driving out the evil spirit from q patient.
The spirit is travelling of on turtle, and
the doctor Chaps pair OF ivory sticks to-
gelher In triumph as he goes. The Indians
along the North Pacific coast have terrible
or gles as 10 their medicine men, and In.
dams are chosen as medicine men
through popular superstition. Ii a
man dreams that his son has
performed a miracle, be concludes
that the boy is cut out for medicine man,
and he gives him over TO the other doctors
for education and training. The Sioux
ordeals are BY all means the most severe.
The young medicine men nave 10 bang
themselyef 10 ropes by skewers which sr8
mt through the m uscles OF the breast and
they hang on to these ropes until the nesn
il torn Off There are no more supersn-
$500 I,,<;,ars in the world IN an these Sioux,