Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-11-15
THE INDIAN CHRIST
Still Being Looked For, Amid Relig-
iOus Frenzy, by the Sioux.
THE EXCITEMENT Is NOT ABATING.
A Theatrical Indian Maid Who Says She is
the Virgin Mary,
AND PROPHESIES WONDERFUL THINGS
ESPECIAL TELEGRAM To THE DrspArcH.,


bailiff of the Indian cDurt, of which Chief
John Grass and two other Sioux are mem
bers. Out from the u,urmuring crowd in
the large room came Waltitawin (Scarlet
Woman), the wife of Qikpoga and mem
Der of Walokpi's band of Sioux. Fearless
ness was the leading element of her attitude,
as she stood gracefully before the railing,
behind which sat the agent and his inter-
prefer. and looked indifferently at John
Grass and the two other Indians who COM
posed the court.
"Who are you and what is your name?'
were the first questions asked her. Draw
ing herself to her full Utature of nearly six
feet, she told her name, then bending slightly
forward with her hand pointed upward, she
said in low tone, with intense earnestness:
81 am the mother of Christ, who is now
upon this earth, making preparation for re-
building it. The earth is to belong solely to
his chosen people and this continent isto
be extended much farther West, taking in
part of the great sunset water.
AN INDIAN RESURRECTION.
"The eastern part of the continent will
Great herds of buffalo will wander as in the
days of long ago, and with the disappear
ance of the whites from the earth will come
the resurrection of all the Indians who now
sleep, and torevermore they will wander
over the earth with no one to question their
rights to kill the buffalo. None to say:
DO this or will put you in the guard
house,"
With gesture to attract the particular
attention of Major Mclaughlin, she drew
an imaginary line upon the floor and
stepped over it, saying: SIN those days
there will be no reservation, no messenger
from the Great Father T., say to the Indians:
Come back here and stay on your reserva-
tion! She continued to expatiate upon the
rosy-tinted dawning Of the Indian millen-
mum morning until stopped by the court.
She refused to tell anything about the orgie
of the ghost dance, beyond the fact that she
had been proclaimed by the members of the
order to be the Virgin Mary. Pending an
interview with the woman's husband, and
consideration by the court as to the dis
posal Of her case she was sent to the guard
house, to which she walked with the air of a
theatrical martyr.
COMING OF THE MESSIAH.
The last case tried by the court for the
day was that of an Indian who belonged on
the Rosebud Reservation and was wander
ing about among the Indians of Standing
Rock without pass from the Rosebud
agent or commission from the agent at
Standing Rock. He was supposed TO be the
bearer of messages from Indians OF the
Rosebud agency relative to the coming of
the Messiah, and when arraigned before the
court and questioned as to his mission, he
explained that his wife belonged to the
Standing Rock agency and that he went to
the Rosebud agent and requested a pass to
go visiting his wife's relations, but that the
agent refused to give him permission. Then
he concluded he would come to Standing
Rock to live, and ne wished to be taken
upon Major McLaughlin's list.
He was questioned as to his belief in the
coming of the Messiah, and it was found
that he not only believed that the Messiah
was coming, and that he would bring with
him the buffalo, but he would also have the
power to furnish each Indian with spring
wagon by motion of his hand. This man
was sent to the guardhouse to be confined
until morning, when he was to be taken to the
line between the two agencies, and after be-
ing warned not to return, was to be turned
loose upon his own reservation.
TALK ON THE RELIGIOUS CRAZE.
Major Mclaughlin advised the reporter
to interview Gall and John Grass. He said
they could talk more intelligently than any
others on the reservation about the alleged
coming OF the Indian Christ. ''They are
the representative men of the Sioux nation, 3"
he said, "and can give you an excellent idea
of how the Indians feel about this religious
craze"
Sitting Bull has lost caste. At the present
time Gall stands pre-eminently above all
other Indians in the estimation OF the Sioux
and enjoys their confidence. Sitting Bull
is not fond of coming around the agency,
but sticks close to his place on Grand river.
In response to the request sent by messen-
ger, Gall and John Grass came to the
agents Office to meet the reporter, and with
the assistance of Louis Primeau, the cele-
brated interpreter. there was lengthy con-
versatIon.
Gall treated the matter very seriously, and
slowly said: 81 listen since this excitement
has come upon my people; sit and listen,
and wonder if these things can be possible.
When they tell me that the buffaloes are
coming back, and that there is to be resur-
rection of our fathers, shake my head.
They tell me that the Messiah can make
spring wagons with motion of his hand.
think this cannot be. But sometimes 1
think of the wonderful things which white
men believe in their religion, and am not
SO sure that these Indians are wrong.
APoLoGIzING FOR HIS TRIBE.
"I went to the Office of st. Paul paper
and talked through machine to someone a
long wav of, and since then I cannot say
that anything is impossible. Your people
believe that in the beginning of the world
wonderful things were done by men. The
Indians believe that in the future wonderful
things may be done by men. 1t seems to me
that the Indians are not Justly to be &C.
cused of being crazy for believing that what
has happened once may happen again.
81 listen for men to say that the Indians
are crazy. But 1 take no part in the dance
and do not lend nv sanction to it. The
Indians want the good old times most of
them know only by tradition, without stop
ping to think how much better they are
now than if the Government were to with
draw its support. To-day 140 cattle were
killed here and distributed among the
people. This shows to me that the Govern
ment does not want the Indians to starve. +"
John Grass is considered by many to be
the brightest and most intelligent Sioux.
Grass Is skeptic in regard to the religious
craze, and does everything in his power to
throw discredit upon the ideas of the myth.
ical ghost dance. The attempt to suppress
the excitement by the slight punishment of
those who become too demonstrative, seem
to be fairly successful. Among old resi-
dents of the frontier, who have seen more or
less of the effects of an Indian outbreak,
there is much uneasiness. They fear that
this thing may keep on growing and de-
velop serious trouble.