The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-06-10
won't to hit in the shade Of his "tepee,n
which is log cabin, more's the pity.


NEGOTIATIONS.
very foolishly praised the pipe before I
offered to buy it, ana the willy old savage
winked his other eye and sprung the "heir-
! loom" racket upon me, and, as q con-
sequence, had to pay him 81 for it.
afterward found identically the same article
at the post traders for 81 IS. What does an
| Indian want with war clubl Yet you will
see this highly decorative bludgeon for sale
in every store. II is made usually Of the
| tail Of deceased steer. 1t is cut open along
the side, stick inserted a stone as big as a
| goose egg sewed in at the north end aud the
natural tuft of hair at the opposits end is
| left dangling. but usually colored red or
green to make it look Indian. That is the
way an Apache makes them. A Sioux
makes a club for the market like a slender
! sledge hammer with a stone head tied on
with rawhide thong Rather than make
head himself he will scour the plain-or
| rather his wife does-in order to find head
made by more Industrious ancestor and
| filed for future reference on a boundless
| prairie.
There are many interesting things to be
picked up around an Indian camp, but the
finger marks of genuneness are not so indel-
IDLY impressed upon these relics as Of yore,
and it is well to look twice at the article
before you purchase.
Nearly every tourist who strikes Denver
has mania for buying some genuine
ludian relics, and the curio industry grows
yearly more stupendous in the face of the
fact that the number Of Indians is growing
less, and they rely almost altogether on the
post trader for supplies Of every description.
PLENTY ON HAND.
AS the necessity for genuine Indian imple-
ments grows less for practical use the sup
ply Of genuine Indian weapons and orna-
ments grows greater. II is because the
Indian has aa6 n rho cbaaa and
as he grows laZieT with civilization his
squaw grows more industrious and learns
to make popular trinklets as u business,
which brings in the almighty dollar to buy
whisky ana tobacco for her own particular
buck.
As toys, the Indian weapons are rather
decorative, but they are built on the ready
made principle and invariably fall to pieces
with the slightest practical use. There is
scarcely now an article sold as an Indian
curlo for which the poor Indian has the
slightest use, except to bring him in a
revenue
For instance, what does an Apache Indian
want with spearl Still he makes them to
sell Of a long, crooked pole with blade of
boiler iron tied upon the end. lfyou should
throw 1t with any force against a tree or the
breast bone of an adversary IL would double
up like a jackknife. Yet 1t is found in the
old curiosity shop tied up in chicken feath-
ers stolen, perhaps, from a ranchers hen
roost It has stripes of red and green paint
and makes a fine looking trophy to hang
upon the wall.
In the first place, where can an aborigine
get boiler iron9 II is popularity supposed
that the noble red man spends his leisure
time pounding out stone heads for his
arrows and spears but he is not modernly
constructed on that plan.
All the stone implements and weapons
the nnaFEeL FalICa Of q hVpnna
Indian race, by modern Indian, who some-
times picks them up in the graves OF his au-
cestors and barriers them for wherewithal
for drinks. The stone age of the North
American Indian has passed ere this into
| legend.
THEIR ANCIENT WEAPONS.
The Indians. some Of them, do make
| very good bow with sinew back, which will
propel an arrow with great velocity. He
does not uss one himself, preferrlng to use
the deadlier Winchester. Still, there being
money in it, he will spend his Sundays in
making them FOR collections and selling
| them after a great deal of haggling as a
valued heirloom of "Hole-in-the-Face," his
father-in-law, or of Smoking Cob" his
great-grandfather.
| He thus sacrifices heirlocms for the
extremely reasonable price of SO TO $40
which would disgrace the haudiwork OF
! l0-year-old white boy at manual training
| school.
The squaws make quivers, all worked In
fanoiful designs In store beads and porcu-
pine quilts The skin is sometimes of buck
skin, which they buy Of the post trader also,
or mountain lion skin tanned with the hair
| on. The great feat of a souaw Is cutting
buckskin into fringe. This kind of passe-
menterie seems to delight them fully as
much as beads, and does not come 80 ex-
pensive.
They also make schapps aud saddlebags
out OF stolen army overcoats and blankets.
With an Indian everything goes If it has a
loud color. Red and yellow are the delights
of an Indians artistic sensibility. II they
cannot get red material they paint it, and
I With the proceeds they continue the paint
| ing, and in the sef-same color.
| 1t is interesting to note that much of the
original work done on tobacco pouches,
moccasins and other small articles Of adorn-
ment of virtu Is done on the sewing machine,
and when you come TO think of it you will
not find that useful machine in any of the
camps.