The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-01-15
4 PUEBLO SCALP DANCE.
Remarkable Ceremony That Is Pre-
ceded BY . Fast Of Two
Weeks.
The Motive That Prompts tho
Noble Rsd Man to Take
q Scalp.
Magical Powers supposed to Resids In
6uch 4 Observation-Disclosures ef tbs
Scalp Dance.

81 sNN@N -TH - -
6uch = ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Of tbs
scalp Dance.
Tbs Indian DOES not take i scalp through
cruelty, but Just ~ civilized soldiara fight
for and preserve tho captured battle-tlaes
OF -. enemy, as trophies and pools of
proves in war. Not being refined enough
to see tho barbarity Of taking 4 physical
trophy, he does very much what civilized
nations did not m any centuries ago, when
CHASTITY heads on pixies were NJ uncommon
sight, says a writer in tho Youths Com
pAnion. #$8
The scalp ia taken by making a rough
circls of clashes around the skull, and then
tearing of tho broad patch of skin and hair
BY main force. II 10 q very dreadfnl orar-
alton, mover to be forgotten by those who
have ones seen ii.
The trophy must be cured by him who
took it, which he proceeds TO DO. with the
utmost care.
Many magical powers are supposed to re-
side in the scalp. Even a third party who
touches il, BY accident or design, becomes
rossessedsof some Of its virtues, though he
IL tuef6DYd AISO lOItHQ5 W COTlhln L6mpNIhFY
ge%lf-denials.
When a war party returns to the pueblo
With scalps it is q very serious n after. They
can not enter the town, nor can their anx-
ions families come out to meet them.
If they have been westward after the
Apaches. Navajos, or Utss, they make a
solemn halt on the center Of the Koo-mai. q
hill twelve miles west OF here; and il to the
east after Comanches, they stop at I CORE
spending point IN their return On the east
side Of tho Rio Grando.
There they camp with the scalps and send
one-half Of their numbe forward to the
pueblo, whore they dare not 90 to their
homes, but repair at once to the oacique,
one Of the principal religious officers. and
make thsir report to him.
For fourteen days the half who arc out on
the hills keep their camp, sending out scouts
daily to the lookouts in tho lava peaks to
guard against the approach of an5enemy;
and the half who have come to tow are
secluded in the ~estufa,H fasting and forbid
don any intercourse with their families.
At the end Of these two weeks the warri-
ors who have been shut up in the estufa
march out and relieve their companions in
NJ nAAiP HuNy aAS v IWAbA ~ nOaAE ot WAAkO
the others come in to fast in the estufa.
After fourteen days tho men in camp start
toward town, those from tbs estufa meet
them halfway, and all enter the pueblo
singing "man-sonRs," songs Of war, and
carrying the acalps first to the cacique and
then to the estufa.
Then begins another period Of fasting and
Observation-Disclosures days for those who
have touched y acalp In any way. and eight
days for those who have not. Every act il
regulated with the most minute and scrupu-
lous care.
. The estufa is always surrounded with the
utmost sacleaness, and it's etiquette in more
punctilious than anything we know of.
The estufa is q building by itself, round
and low, with q diameter of forty to fifty
feet, It has no doors in the sides, but is
and from the roof by another ladder down
through q trap door to the interior.
The interiot of the cstufa is a plain, cir
cular room with walls bare, save for u few
antIet s and rude paintings of the sacred
4$4{Y
One must not forget himself in entering
the eatufa. Reaching he foof, he must
approach the trap-door flom the west side,
back down the ladder, turn to the tight
when at the bottom, and make a complete
circuit of the room, d foot from tho wall,
Srs he takes his seat in the sernl-circle
around this nacrsd fire.
Ii he were ~thou2htlessly to turn to tho
left in any of these maneuyerD it would be
sure death, for the Truss (gods) would lot
loose on him the ghost of the acalped man,
Who-clRd only in a dark blue breech-clout
and with n lasso coiled. over his shoulder
would chase and touch him, whereupon he
would fall dead!
When they come to leave the estufa they
approach the foot of the ladder from the
left, and on reaching the roof turn to the
!. .lA N,.,l T. N ~, Z ho rCcf and a =, n IN "a
suend to the ground backward in hard
earned safety!
The seat OF the cacique il at the west side
of the freplace;| that Of his first assistant
opposite him on the east, and the acolytes
fill tbs semi-oircle between. In a semi
circle around these are tho Cum-pa-Whit-la-
wen, who are guards of the estufa; and in
successive gemi-circles comes all the rest OF
the audience.
All facs away from the fire until the
oaoique rises and speaks. whom all face to-
wards it, and SO remain throughout the
rest of the session,
This sacred fire is made only by the Hoo
ma-coon, a branc of medicine men, and
must not be started with a match. only the
sacred flle-drill or flint and steel being per-
INVISIBLE.
Most Of thu men present smoke, but
rover use matches. Their cigarettes must
bo lighted only at the sacred fire.
After the days OF preparation in this
punctilIous spot, tho soAlp-taksrs and other
warriors emerge to hold the T-u-a-fu-ar or
mad dance III eommemoration of their
victory. Tho dnncs-whioh is never al
lowed to be witnessed by Amsricans-is
held in II small square near the sstufa.
The dancers are formed in two lines, fac
ing each other. with alternate men and
women. The men are in their war paint,
and each carries u bow and arrow in his
left hand, and in his right a single arrow
with the point upward,
The women wear their gayest dresses and
silver ornaments, but carry nothing in their
hands. All the dancers move with the Pc
ouliar hoppity hop common to all pueblo
dances, in perfect rhythm to tho monotonous
chant Of the singers and ths thump, thump
of the big aboriginal drum.
The chant is a metrioal account of the
battle and the manner in which the scalps
were taken.
As soon as tho dance is fairly under way
the Bending Woman makes her appear
Rnce. She is the official custodian Of the
soalps; has taken them from their sealed
hiding-placea in the estufa, and brushed
them carefully with a sacred broom mado
in the mountains; and now carries them in
/. l--.I.1.. 49, ~ -. Il 49,. Al