St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1891-12-26

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Looking out over Sitka bay we saw
i've big canoes eDmipg t.tQwapApA a
Rancheri,, or that part OF The town on
the waters edge 'where the indians
live. We hurried down thcte and were
very much interested in the ceremonies
attending the assisAIoM ioyepot
of Hoonah Indians.
In times gone byfa noona6 had MAJ.
ried . Sitka squsk. 81 AhsttffSes ais
friendly, and continuo kosg0 hSNNn
bodies visiting at least. Qpcc. q EeAFs
though the man. ard woman that made
the relationship have been dead for
eo,r. limo =. ~-of rs1sse etsO
Indians are fond Of bright e1loeeAtd
the red, yellow, blue aud green of their
costumes had q. r6 bsiQt1tSfAek&
scope effect as the pen. women and
little children. about eightSp al, sat
huddled together In the caScA Above
them floated the stars ana stripes and
a British flag, used with an. BYE to
decoration, and with no fdca Of sailing
under false colors.
Hoonah. the place they came frog1.
is one hundred and twenty miles from
Sitka; it takes over n week to como
from there in a canoe. Tie visitors
may have stopped TO rest at different
islands on their way, but even so. it
must have been q hard trip for them.
Indians become used to the cramped.
uncomfortable position necessary in .
canoe. yet i thinks, it injnrss, them,
especially when they are young. and
that may be the reason;yhy,so Many
of them grow up b~ow-legged, pigeon
toed and otherwise deformpll t'AT
We thought these people would be
in a great hurry to disembark., but
there were many ceremonies to be
gone through with first. 'ff
An old Indian stood up in ono of the
canoes. and cxtolled the virtues OF the
maiden who had married. isto their
tribe. He told traditional stories of
her goodness and perfection. II they
were true, it was sad that che could
not have lived foScyer as, bright and
shining example. lie kept On for fully
twenty minutes, then sank down in the
canoe overcome With srief.r.peQingH
if the cofin-lid had Just closed overt che
dear departed. ss.,v
Then up rose another aged warrior.
and in the most pathetic tonessc6led
out to the people on shore to take them
in: I'VE are cold-we y weery-ws
have travelled far" E'ApOO
The sad. entreating voice had seem
ingly no effect though the words rcR
repeated again and again. He next
tried bribery. He held mp new blankets
and other gifts they had brought tn
entertain them. Even then thcrc,wa q
no response. Then in a loud, waiting
voice he made u PERSONAL vppeal 10
those whose family name she KNEW
~. ON out, Whalci SLAtsA;toDe ,
Crow. Hear my words. UBsar:!' :
This was evidently the spesf Ter I've
next speaker. Midst the loud beating
of drums the door of oneAthe hopscS
on shore opened. aSd il t1reShbd
an old Indian called Father 81 Rats"
appeared. dressed for the OCCASION. He
had on three or four blankets that
might once have been I'D. but bad
grown brown with usage. Over the
blankets he wore u large r6De made of
eagles breasts, handsome enough 70
make a tourist wild with. envy: long.
yellow leggings and q remarkahly tall
conc-shared hat completed his
costume. ) Sd HAP EGS Zha
With a stealthy, catdike tread he
went down to the beach and out ON q
big rock that was in the water. There
he squatted, Indian fashion, swayfhg
his body from side to side, occasionally
tapping his arms as ii about to take
fight in his eagle plum2ge~~aHIr
While he was going through tASje
contortions another old Siwash came,
and standing beside him welcomed the
strangers in the caaoes andv juvissd
them to land. Then at last the cere-
mony was over. and the poor people.
after being an hour and a half in the
drizziing rain. were allowed to find
shelter and comfort Overland Month