Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-01-28

would not let us go. That was before Three
Stars (Gen. Crook came out here to talk with
us and to persuade US to give up the land. for
| which we have not been paid. Our women
| and children have suffered much, because
| there was no food. The Great Father heard
not their cries. so many of US made loud
| noise and the Great Father heard them, for
some of us are going to talk with him soon.
BIG ROAD TALKS.
Then Big Road spoke. Said he: II want to
| say something about the ghost dance. Many
people do not understand it because the truth
has not been told them. Most of the Indians
! here belong to the church; we have many
\ church houses. This dance was like religion;
| it was religion. Those who brought the dance
here from the west said that to dance was the
same as going to church White people pray
because they want to go to heaven. Indians
! want 70 so TO heaven, too, so they prayed. and
they also prayed for food enough to keep them
out of heaven until it was time to go. Heaven
must be n nice place or the white men would
not want to go there. That was why the Indians
wouid like TO go We danced and prayed that
we might live forever; that everything we
planted might grow up to give us plenty and
happiness. There was no harm in the dance.
The Messiah told us to send our children to
school. TO work on our farms all the time and
to do the best we could. He also told not
!
could dance and go to church, too; that would
be Ike going 20 two churches. never heard
that the Messiah had promised that the Indians
should be supreme or that the white men
should be DESTROYED. We never prayed for
anything but happiness. We did not pray that
the white people should be ell killed. The
shirts We wore were made for us to
go to heaven. The dance was not a war dance,
for none who went in it was allowed to have
one scrap of metal on his body. Many Les
were told about the dance by interpreters. l
never believed that bullets could not go
through the shirts. Some foolish people might,
for there are foolish Indians Just as there are
foolish white people, but L never heard any
Indian in the dance ever say he thought the
shirt would protect him. All the dance trouble
here caused by Agent Rover and his police
men telling stories about US that were not true
God made beth the Indian and the white man,
and We want the white man to live a great deal
more than many white men want us to live.
Il get rations every two weeks. but it is only
enough for five days. The rest OF the time
starye very much. Harmed last year and, like
all the other people, got 10 crops. am care
ful with my food and have learned the white
mans WAYS. eat q little at morning. at noon
and at night. never waste my ratlons at
feast or dance There is not enough for even
a small feast. We cat dog and wild turnips and
cherries at our feasts now. Five years ago we
had better beef and more of it. We have al
ways since been promised as much to eat and
of good beef but the promise is like wind.
Lame and old and big jawed cattle have been
given the Indians. Sometimes when we have
feast we sell little bead work or pipe or
pair of moccasins and with the money buy
some coffee and some sugar."
HE SAYS IT IS STRAIGHT.
81 want to say" remarked Little Wound,
that Big Road has talked straight about the
dance. The Indians prayed that they might
have souls like the white people. SO that they
could go to heaven. Many lies have been told
about some of the Indians who were in the
dance. Policemen and other Indians and
squaw men lied great deal. Those Indians
wanted to be chiefs and they abused the chiefs
and head men who danced; they hoped to get
to be chiefs and head men by making trouble
and by talking with the agent"
THE QUESTION OF AN AGENT.
Mention of the agent opened the mouth of
Young Man-Afraid. I'VE want a military agent
now" said he. May be, after time, we shall
want another agent who is not an officer, but
we will talk about that when we go to Washing
ton. We do not want any more Indian police
here; they always make trouble. Scouts can do
all the work and will not make trouble, because
they will be under an army officer. We want
to get what the government promised to give
us-plenty of beef. We have given up the land
the government asked for; now let the govern
ment give us what it said it would. Our an
nuity goods-all our blankets and things
ought to be here when the leaves fall. Awoman
came in here after her annuities last winter and
was frozen to death. II the warm clothes had
been here when they were promised the woman
would still be alive and many Indians would
not have suffered from cold"
I'VE got our blankets in time twelve years
ago." said Fire Thunder, but not since then"
THE CHILDREN AND THE SCHOOLS.
In answer to a question from me, Young
Man-Afraid said: I'VE want our children all
to go to school. 1t is true that some Of those
who have been placed at school have run away,
but that is not strange. White children often
do the same thing, and the Indian children are
not better nor do they have better hearts than
white children"
The children at Medicine Root school," re-
marked Little Wound, ARE often very hungry
and their clothes are poor. Many of them left
the school because there was even less there
than there was at home. Sometimes they got
only little hard bread and water at the school.
have asked the teacher to send to the Great
Father for more food and clothes, but there is
no moe than there has been for a long time"
My children are al the agency- boarding
school" said Fore Thunder. They are salts
fed"
Then the esthetic side Of Littl, Wound be-
came apparent. I've want said he, red and
white and blue and green blankets. They send
us nothing but these black blankets all the time.
The Indians like bright colors, and it hurts no
one III thtv 90 nave pretty Didukets. lue SHIRTS
we have now are poor: not as good as they were
once. We ought to have little tobacco with
the rest OF our supplies. We cannot raise to-
bacco here and We have not much money to
buy it with"
That quietly uttered reference to tobacco was
ingenious and there was lull in the pow-wow
while each Indian was made the recipient Of a
bag Of smoking tobacco and u small plug. The
Osallalas had nothing more to say, SO the Brule
warriors were notified that they would be heard
next
TWO STRIKES TALK.
The pipe was circulated and new cigarettes
were lighted. Then Two Strikes spoke. He
comes, as did all the Brules. from Rosebud
agency. east of here.
For more than q year." said he, 81 have not
been pleased at the way in which have been
treated at Rosebud. Four Of our young men
went to Washington last year and they told the
Great Father good many things did not like
They wanted many changes made and said they
would like to have the agency moved to place
twenty-five miles nearer the Missouri river
which was all wrong. The agency was in q good
place and the new place had less timber and less
water than the place where the agency is now.
There was nothing to be gained by moving the
agency, but the agent wanted it and these four
Young men would like to be head chiefs Some
half-breeds and the police were helping them
1t was because of these things that he left Rose
bud. If these distUrbers were only sent away
somewhere the Rosebud Indians would get
along better. We want to stay there but we
cannot get along. Rosebud q big agency
when Spotted Tail lived. but ii is small now