The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1892-07-07

she sounoeo the police signal, three
taps nn the bell. and sent our faithful
Stiff-Arm TO let the camp know that nc
one was to come TO tho school-house
that day. But shc reckoned without
her invited QuestA Indians ore pune.
tuality itself, and promptly at four
o'clock. tho hour set, they began To
pour In. The first corners were allowed
TO come Into my bedroom, that they
might report my Illness TO those on the
way. But Il did no good. The entire
| camp arrived My sister rushed for the
hardtack that we, had meant TO be a
part OF tho refreshments, and distrib-
utcd II among them ut the door, and
bade them good-by. Then they went
reluctantly homo.
For the closing exercises Of the school.
we invited all the camp to come at ten
o'clock In the morning. Before our
seven-o'clocx breakfast, we saw a was-
on drive up fllled with parents and
children. We gave them pictures to
look at, and they were so entertained
by these and by our running about in
our preparations for tho occasion that I
do not think they wcre sorry to wait
three hours before the entertainment
proper began
Our wards became so afPectionate
that we had to forbid their coming to
the house before breakfast. II they
stayed too long, 1t was no insult to say,
In the idiom of their language, that we
wished to make the door solid," which
meant that we wished to shut the door
behind them. The same visitor would
be smiling at the door the next day
waiting for admission. II is o grief and
modification to the Dakotas If teacher
leaves their camp. When we found that
the climate was too severe for us and
decided to leave. they expressed their
sorrow In many pathetic ways They
came singly and in number to say that
their hearts were very sad. The
chief men in the camp came to the
schoolhouse and held n solemn council.
sitting silent for about an hour and a
half. Then one or two said their hearts
were sad. and nll went away.
They gave us farewell Omaha
dance. This Is one of their friendly
dances. A good many young braves
were invited from nc:ghboring camp
to make 1t very smart ball indeed.
With the exception of bit of blanket
or calico, they wore no clothes except
their feather dresses, necklaces, arm
lets, and ornaments for the scalplock
and the ankles Their faces and bod
les were painted Enthusiastically. We
scarcely recognized familiar friends 1t
was good deal like q masquerade Our
dignified policemen, Little Dog and
Stiff-Arm md Cut-Foot, whom we had
been accustomed to see in the United
States army uniform, were particular
ly amazing in our eyes. They gave us
chairs, and once or twice during the
progress OF the dance asked us to rise
that our seats might be placed where
we could be still more comfortable. All
the Indian women and all the men, ex-
cept those who beat the drums, sat on
the ground or on plank laid on the
ground. The women danced apart from
the mon. Neither sex paid the least at
tention to the other, apparently.
The biggest yellow dog in the camp
had been killed to do honor to the
teUchers. He was stcwed in a clothes
boiler, and the dish was placed In the
middle OF the hut. The other refresh
mcnts were rice, bread and coffee, each
In separate clothes boiler. The GOV
ernment gives clothes boilers to the
Indians nlong with stoves These stoves
constitute part OF tho annuity goods |
promised to the Sioux Or Dakotas in tho |
treaty when they ccdcd their lands to |
the United States. When the time |
came for the refreshments to be served, |
the young man who got up the dance
wns conducted by the master of ccrc-
monies to the middle Of the room, and
placed beside the clothes boiler of
stewed dog. Then Eagle-Dog, who had
contributed the big yellow dog, was led
up and ploced beside him. Then the
master of ceremonies turned his foot
steps towards me.
1t wns trying moment devoutly
trusted that 1t was not de rigueur that
their head teacher should sit on the
ground and eat stewed dog! They must
have held o conference and decided that
my sister and were not to be asked to
40 this. When be reached me, he did
not offer to conduct me to the center
Ike the other honored ones. He stopped
low and put his head with it's huge
circle Of eagle fenthers to my side and
'olled 1t round and round. stole a
'urtive glance round to see what the
could be. The whole roomful
If perhaps hundred and fifty Indians
we're looking calmly on; it was plain
hat It was ''thc correct thing" The
brave held his head up for q moment,
md thought that was tho end of the
'eremony, but 1t had to be gone through
With second time. Then he stepped
way, and began to serve out the feast.
Thanks were offered up audibly by
ZACH one present both before and after
he supper.-Susan Dabney Smedes, in
Y. Y. Post
Tho Daby and the Savage.