The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1894-09-06
ON WITH sun DANCE.
THE GREA TEST FESTIVAL AMONG
ALL THE PLAINS INDIANS.
Thsn the Bucks Mako Love. Suffer Tor
ture. Sing, Dance, and Revive all the
Memories Of Old Time state.

year, H. the greatest annual festival not
only OF the plains Crees. but OF all the
plains Indians OF every nation. II Is al
most the last bit Of true heritage OF these
Indians that is left TO them. except their
languages and their red skins, and 90
take II away from them-while even the
White Dog dance is undisturbed among
the Indians of New york States 10 do
an act which the Crces must regard as
purely tyrannical The sun-dance among
the Crees. Blackfeet, Sioux, Cheyennes,
Arapahoes, Shoshones. and the rest Is
only primarily religious. IL IS ~ icast as
well as form of worship, and II Is an
occasion for love-making and for the mi
tiation OF warriors chosen from among
the young bucks OF each tribe.
When the time for the dance draws near
the Indians have a great moving. on q
single reservation there may be several
villages and many scattered tcpees, but
at this time all the tents and families,
ponies. valuables. tools, weapons. and, in
short, every belonging Of everybody In
the tribe is gathered I'm one immense
village IN one favored spot on the reser-
walton. only those. who are mourning for
their dead are uniisturbed by these joy
Gus preparations. Their tepecs and the
tepees OF the dead are the only ones that
are not moved-the only ones that do
not Gravitate into one Of the many circles
that the other dwellings form around
and around the council tent and the tent
of the chiefs. Even the disreputable
gather with the reSt-the fepees Of the
shameless women and OF tr,eir husbands
who share their disgrace and their earn
ings, being in the last or outside circle.
furthest from the neighborhOOd Of the
chiefs and head men and the Valient
warriors. As the visitor rides 30 the great
camp he sees the lonely houses Of the
dead shouted against the sky upon the
hiills, and knows that IN them lie tie
bodies Of the departed warriors, with
all their beadwOrk and hnery about
them, and with their best weapons be-
side them ready for use beyond the In
dian Styx, when the junk Of icrked beef
and the pOtfull Of corn meal that has been
left In the tepee shall have been used up
or that last journey. upon which a brave
II dian starts with all the courage and
carried past his deathbed, and down I'm
Dttle ravines or gulches, or tree-curtain-
ed benches beside a stream. the visitor
sees the tepees Of the mourners-as quiet
dead-and he knows that there sits a
sguaw who has perhaps gashed herself
all but fatally I'm the excess Of her wild
krlei over the loss Of her man. and
mat nat on his face in the dirt, or seated
IN a rancelike. statucsque attitude Of
hNed despair. Is her dead husbands broth
er or his Warrior contrasting. Ike the
squaw, ana serving out with murmurless
mourning period. The grief-stricken war
riof mas mo- boasts TO make, no soul for
wretc dbanGe' mo no heart for feasting. The
sell herself TO new buck for '' many
ponies. no curiosity about the love-making
or othefs, no care what Young men nm
I ,ss the torture that shall prove
mem brave. SO. without these mOurners
the preparations for the dance 20 on
The great festivity lasts several DAYS
ire Dance itself should properly con-
10 get ready for it. and several ~ re-.
cover from st. so that the large village
that Is made ready at this time remains
~ statu quo for weeks The In
u q, agent keeps away and so do most
oil the white men who manage or work
upon the reservation So do the soldiers.
II any are stationed near Only the in
,,erpreter' who Is sure TO be a privileged
, nan rpreeu' sun hangs about among the
warriors unless II happens that some
potable white man happens along with
Dig bribes Of tea and tobacco, and still
blgser pumps OF curiosity. At the sun
wholly TO their religious mysteries their
superstitions, the tricks and incanta-
tions OF the medicine men. the tradi-
IONS ana ancient customs Of their an
ihss or their blood. They dance and |
east ana gorge all night, if they have |
inc, whereWithal, and they dance and |
yen ! s, ana ride and sing and boast all day. |
isVeIy medicine man performs his clever |
est trlcks and most mysterious ceremO- |
MES, ana every warrior rccOunts his |
martial deeds, and does over again in |
pdntOmime and mock action the war
Ike ,feats OF which ne is proudest
Inc boy children look on and acquire
the temper and spirit Of their people
ana the budding bucks thrill with i'm
patience TO take their parts with the
older men. The talk is ali Of fighting and
lt war, of horse-sttaling, Of brlde-steal-
ig, OF torture, of defiance Of all enemies,
ma the like. The Governor Of Montana
ears that such a festival menaces the |
'eace that should exist between the two
aces 80 1t may, but putting n stop To
VIII no more breed friendship than
ne work OF the a. +. A. will weaken
,atholicism. A truer view Of the sun
lance Is that IL provides a safety valve
or the escape of the widest passions |
II pent-up race.
All the riches Of a tribe are proudly
lsplayed at the sun dance. The best and
reatest wealth Of the red men is I'm
neir land. to be sure. and the next
elf~esteem is in their ponies, that one
ees tethered or roaming by the score
lst outside the sun-dance village. But
ne wealth that interests a white man
lost and most surprises him takes the
prms o. the trappingS and costumes that |
ne red men somehow have managed To |
ave. In spite of their profigacy, their |
isery. and their altered relation TO the
ORD at large. Long as 1t Is, since the
lffalo vanished, they Will yet show coup |
icks Of buffalo horn, and shields OF
iffalo hide. Long as II is since they |
n. 1
Ill display suits Of fringed and beaded
lckskin on their young squaWs-the bri- |
Al dresses of Srandmothers dead and |
'ne. perhaps; and the chiefs have now
nd then pair Of buckskn chaps" or
ickskn saddles. while buckskin mecca
ms are very plentiful Beadwork that is
beautiful as Partisan tewelry-whole
Tits of elaborate bead embroidery heavy |
metal. and more gorgeous and artistic |
its patterning than any but the finest |
ersian rugs-are proudly worn by the
ese tribes. War eagle feather bonnets
lat trail on the ground when a chief
'rries them above his head on horse
lck are still to be seen, though white
eautful stone hatehets for display.
silly knives, most ornamental hair
esses, splendid red clay pipes, with
indies carved grotesgueiy-all these grow
en-. They appear in the grand page
ITS. when all the bucks Join in the
my war dance. when even those who
e naked. except for paint. stnl trail
shes and strings OF feathers from their
ads or their saddles or their ponies' /
us AZ such a time no man calls the
d Indian a dirty tramp or beggar re-
use no man saw al any theatre in town
~ winter, or will see at Conev Island ar
dorado so gorgeous, so brilliant or so
wlidering display as poor Lo makes
s asn ne Is warmed up to forget his
'ai sun dance The red men hoard
csc treasures. and pass them from 5
heralon 10 generation. How they can
80 VINO can save nothing else. even
,m one day TO the next, passes ali -
me drum or tom-tom sounds continual |
turing the dance among all the tribes !
rs the only official instrument The
\ g oh men may shake rattles made OF /
ieu Sourus with the seeds inside or NAV
mir the buffalo toes that make noisss
sc iocusts song, but the real music -
III all IS the tnIn-Intn "a ~ NN- 49, -.-o--D | =