Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-10-17

RELICS OF A TRIBE OF sANAoEs THAT n RAPIDLY
pIsArPEARISe-rHE ORDER OF rHE Doc soL-
prKss-eAMxs OF THE INDIAN boYs-rEArs OF
BRAvERY-DoLLs ON HORSEBACK.
THE EXHIBIT OF THE SMITHSONIAN
Il Institution at the worlds fair in Chicago
will include display illustrating the manners
and customs of the Kicwas who are the most
interesting of all the Indian tribes in the United
States Originally they were. perhaps. the
widest, carrying their raids from their home
in the Indian territory as far south as the City
OF Mexico and a. far 20 the no-thw ST as the
present state OF Washington. They are tanned
now and rapidly dying of, so that IL will not be
long before their lands will b. omen to the in
vasion Of a horde of boomers. What renders
them chiefly remarkable is their extreme con-
servatism. While other aboriginal nations
have mostly adopted the white mans ways and
more or less of his costume. the Kiowas are
much the same Intelligent savaSes tina, their
forefathers were when Columbus discovered
America.
PECULIAR METHOD OF BURIAL
One Of their peculiarities is their method OF
burial. Their cemeteries are mp in trees. A
frame work OF strong withes 10 constructed
| among the branches. and on this the bodies Of
the dead are laid. each warrior wrapped in his
D.anEets aUd with all mis- property about him.
No survivor would ever venture to use any,
| thing tpat hal belonged to a person dofunct
Tor lear lest the latter spirit should haunt and
destroy him. Al the risk OF the lives OF him
sell and his party Mr.. Mooney of the bureau
OF ethnoiogy recently procured one Of those
buris! platforms. taking it down from the tree
IN which II was built Also he brought away n
10. OF bones that were found on 1t. and the
whole vii! make Q feature Of the exhibit re-
ferred to.
THE TRIBES PALLADIUM.
There was one curiosity OF the Kiowas for
which Mr.. Mooney would almost have been
willing to give his own head, but neither he
nor any other white man has ever been per-
mltted even to look upon il. 1t is a bag con-
taining the palladium of the tribe-all the
grand medicine paraphernalis, &c. Not least
important OF the contents of this sacred re-
ceptacle are 800 scslps of white men and Mex
leans, taken in war or by murder. Also there
Is the outfit OF the famous sun dance. in which
the young braves acquire their title 20 warrior
snip by passing lariats through strips Of flesh
In their breasts and backs. fastening the other
ends TO the saddles Of their ponies and causing
the latter to tear the ropes loose at full gallop
Among the things which Mr.. Mooney did
secure are q tomahawk that has killed six men
and a spear with a long steel point which has
slain twelve persons in fight, welded by the
big chief who owned it.
THE ORDER OF THE DOC SOLDIERS
The most interesting battle trophy obtained
however, is q standard of war belonging to an
order OF knighthood among the Kiowas which
is called the Order Of the Dog Soldiers 1t is a
stan six feet high, wrapped spirally with otter
skin IN strips and ornamented with eagle
feathers and bells. When the tribe fought one
warrior was chosen to bear this standard. He
WAS always the bravest, because he was pretty
nrg a he la L
as lar as possible to the front and plant the
staff In the ground. at the same time fastening
himself TO II In such manner that he could
not leave il. He carried with him broad strip
OF tanned leather with a slit in one end of it.
through which he put his head while through
hole In the other end he thrust the staff as he
planted II in the earth. Thus he stood. bound
TO his post and immovable. while the fight
ragged around him. Under no circums tances
was he permitted to lift the standard. although
fellow warrior might release him. mo re-
treat, was the motto OF these fierce wild men.
DOLLS on HORSEBACK.
Like the Comanches, the Kiowas lived, as
they have always fought, on horseback Con-
sequently when on foot they are awkward and
bow-legged. The very dolls Of the little girls
usually ride. Each female child in the tribe
has her doll stick" It is called II is stick
OF wood, on which is mounted and set a-strsd-
die three or four doll babies securely fastened,
Sometimes each doll has little saddle beneath
II. One OF the doll sticks secured by Mr..
Mooney has four doll babies on it. One repre-
SCENTS a woman with pappoose on her back.
another Is a miniature warrior carrying a shield
with a scalp attached to il. a third is a girl and
the fourth is a boy. Some o; the bigger dolls
which do not ride are very elaborate indeed.
There is a warrior doll two feet high with long
hair that evidently once belonged TO dog.
shield with a picture of buffalo painted on IL
qniver, bow and arrows a hair brush and two
wooden spoons attached to his belt. The face of
the doll is maze of buckskin, with the features
marked upon 1t. Such one the little kiowa
girl doee not carry in her arms. but in a sort of
cradle on her back, because that is the way in
which she will carry her own children when
she has them.
Attached to the toy cradle is always a little
bag. which is a miniature COPY of the beaded
receptacle invariably fastened to the cradle of
real child among the kiowas. In the latter
case 1t contains the life of the infant and any
mother who permitted this precious article TO
be lost would be considered guilty of a helnous
crime. When the child is big enough to walk
1t wears the bag around its neck, ana in later
years Ii is put away carefully and preserved.
You may purchase the bag itself from kiowa
Indian, but never can you buy what il
contains, which is simply the umbilicus of the
owner.
GAMES OF THE KIowAs.
Very interesting are the games played by the
hAo"as- AuS ooss Art very iona OF tops lheN
are always whip tops. of the same shape as
those used by Caucasian youth. with pegs of
bone. These aiolescent savages are wonder
fully expert in making them whirl and take
great pride in their skill at the sport Another
form of amusement Is throwing with wooden
lances at a target made out of a withe bound in
circular shape with a network OF rawhide strips
Counts are made according to the distance from
the bull s-eye OF tine mesh in which The lance
sticks The boys also play n sort of shiny
with a leather bail stuffed with deer hair. Still
another favorite sport is the thro wing Of smooth
bones plamed with feathers along the ice in
winter. Among the men the most popular
game is played with strips of wood variously
marked, which are thrown upon the ground,
counting according TO the marks that fall up-
permost At this much gambling is done for
horses or other property.
The great womens game IL called the
game OF the two dangerous Rivers" IL re-
sembles Backgammon somewhat. the moves
being determined by the throwing of five sticks
Mhena players throw lands one of her pieces
in one OF the streams marked across the check
cred blanket she must return TO the starting
point Among other ktowa curiosities OBJ.
tanned BY Mr.. Mooney is the paraphernalia of
the mescal feast, which is q semi-religious
celebration. The Indians sit around fire on
their launches each ana boll;,o . g.. 49,