Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1893-01-08


may ealpnuni.ate with each other.
These sisyns are nade by SMOKE. blanket.
pony. sign language. Gre. arrows. flint.
steel aud mirror. fhecode II san glass
Signals e. which YOU refes il part II a
regular sv~tcsn of signals at great dis
tsnces whieh has been reduced
- science hy the indians.
on bright day ard when tho sun
Is la the right direction u piece of hook.
lrg glass held Ia the hpliow II the hand
~ the chief directs tho movements Of
the whole aeld The reflection of the
suns rays thrown upon tho ranks
serves without Trumpet or command 10
communicates the order Of the chief.
According 20 the direction Of the rays
The ranks move east or west or north or
south; should thcrc DC distinct flashes.
tho party hurries forward. moving "a
right or left. - the flashes indicate. II.
on the other hand. tho scouts sent on
ahead discover a large force close at
hand n contin-rus. quick, vibratory.
tretnuious motion Il given the mirror.
bu. no distinct flashes The party in
that ease scatter and secrete them
selves. The system." said the medicine
chief. sis simply perfect. A chief In
this way can sit on his horse on the top
OF knoll and without word and with
only slight movement OF the hand,
direct the movements of his men in the
valley below. Civilization has never
been able u invent such system Of
drilling troop Of cavalry in the field"
What Is the secret among the In
dinrs Of sending up smoke in grent
pufTs aud then no smoke? How is il
done?'
They hold n blanket for awhile over
a small fire, and when the blanket is
full of smoke they open it and send up
the stipple. Indians notice every OBJ
iect as soon as 1t moves Ages OF trans
mitted power have trained their vision
to keen perception. The signal Is only
an expansion of the sign"
"How do the Utes bury. and why is
dead Ute never found?"
They bury By night" said the med
icine man. Gin u cave. and seal up the
cave so YOU would never know where to
begin to look. They viii never talk
about it to anyone"
How do they split the buffalo col
umn?"
Suppose a column Of buffalo coming,
perhaps fifty miles wide and hundred
miles long. The Indians will ride
against that rushing wall and split it
into two separate wings by means of
what is known as the flying wedge.
One Indian rides ahead, then two, then
three and so on. They shoot buff
falo at the center of the line, say,
and quick as it falls another right be-
hind 1t, and another, till they have
fclled three or four, thus opening a
path which they may enter and which
opens gradually wider and wider until
the vast herd splits and the two wings
slowly separate"
What are FIRE arrows used for and
why do they make themT said to the
conjurer of secrets.
Fire arrows are sent up sometimes
as a signal of danger. They are seldom
used in war and are generally used for
the purpose of burning out raccoons,
bears, rabbits, ETC., from old hollow
trees.
What are flint and steel used for?
For information. Take an example"
said the chief. "A party go out to sur
prise camp of Indians An Indian scout
is sent ahead. He crawls close to the
tepees. counts the lodges and then turn
ing round and drawing his blanket
about his head. only letting the front
of his face show. he strikes off sparks
on the finder and the counted number
of the sparks is the number of lodges"
ais it true that the Indians were the
first masons and that their masonry an
tedates all others in the past?"
Every tribe of Indians" said the
conjurer, ''has its secret societies.
which have passwords. grips and signs.
They will all deny that such thing
exists, because it is big medicine but
nevertheless it does. for all that. Each
tribe, moreover, has its own peculiar
chart OF masonry, proving beyond all
pcradventure that the Indians were the
first masons in America. The four fol-
lowing charts. which have net been
made public before, will probably
throw some light on this subject and be
recognized by those who are adopts in
tho mysteries of masonry as incontesti-
bic instances Of true masonic order
having existed among the Indians prior
90 any other like order known among
the white men of the country"
What is the sacred medicine made Of
which they carry with them in their
medicine bags?"
Zach brave" replied the medicine
chief, puts peculiar medicine of his
own into the little bag worn on
his person and buried with him. 1t has
a religious Specification as well as a
mysterious one II a warrior has run
of luck with his medicine he swcars 10y
IL and ret-ins il. IL not he changes 1t
Mt once"
SIS the tribal medicine simply an
expansion of that idca?"
1T is. with most of the Indians the
thing is a secret With some. like tho
Chcyennes. the thing Is known. With
the Cheyennes it was fifty years ago a
bun1lc Of sagebrush. But the famous
medicine arrow changed all this. Now
IL is q bundle OF arrows tied together
and tightly wrapt in 'par-feche' and
suspended in good days over the door
Of the wigwam. This is the Indians
Ark Of tho Covenant There was a
secret society connected with il among
the Cheycunes This society met in a
lodge outside tho camp. II they lose
this holy bundle' ia war the whole
tribe viii impoverish itsoif n get il
back The tribal medicine Of toe Nav
ajos was n little squat stone figure
which thew trof from ~. ruate