The San Francisco call., 1896-08-05
Fourth Sun of the Sturgeon Moon
Shines on a Mighty
Assembly.
MANY TRIBES REPRESENTED
Daughters of Pocahontas and Red Men
From All Over CALIFORNIA;
Hunting-Ground Gather.

Promptly yesterday morning at 10
o'clock, or, in the language of the Red
Men, on the advent of the tenth run of
the fourth sun, sturgeon moon, G. s. ID.
4O5. the council fire of the Thirty-hrst It
Great Sun session of the Great Council of
the State of California, Improved Order OF
Red Men, was kindled by the Great Sachem
A. Jackson OF San Francisco.
The great wigwam on Post street was
filed with great chiefs of the California
wilds from Siskiyou to San Diego.
From the rising of the sun until the set
ting of the sun the hunt was followed
with enthusiasm and perfect harmony.
Some 800 delegates were present in the
wigwam OF the braves, while in the ada
cent wigwam of Pochah hontas, celebrating
its fourth Great Grand Sun session, there
were about seventy five delegates from the
women of the tribes.
After the kindling of the council fire
thirtv-nine past sachems were 1ntrod uced
and made members of the Great Council,
the highest degree of the order. Following
these ceremonies an address OF welcome
was made BY Past Sachem +. d. Brandon.
He outlined the history of the order, tell
ing how it originated from the Sons of
Liberty IN 1868, men who in the disguise
of red'men fought bravely for American in
dependence. From these came the Sons
OF st. Tamina in III, and from this or
ganization started the Tammany Society
in 1889.
Up to 1888 these societies were fraternal,
but not beneficial in nature, but since 1888
the society has been both fraternal and
beneficial. Starting in with a mem bership
of less than 10000 the Improved Order Of
Red Men has now reached a membership
of more than 15O, 900.
of
chem Brandon spoke in complimentary
terms of Colonel a. Andrews, the only
surviving Californian who held the office
of great mishinaWa to the Great Council
of the United States.
Response was made by Great Sachem
A. Jackson, who thanked the members in
general for the work done in the past and
for the progress made by the order, and
thanked also the committee on entertain
ment for the hospitality they had pro-
vided the visiting delegates.
The afternoon session was devoted to
the long talks OF the great chiefs, or in
other words the listening to the readings
of the annual reports.
The great sun report of the great sa-
chem, A. Jackson, is exceedingly compre-
hensive, giving in detail the present con-
ditions of the several California tribes and
setting forth many rules and regulations
for the tribal government.
lie us T6DOTI as lOlIOWSs
Great Chiefs and Representatives: Once
more by the will of the Great Spirit We are per-
mitted il Great sun session TO assemble in
this beautiful wigwam dedicated to the cause
of freedom, friendship and charity.
Brothers, l welcome you one and ALL and
extend you Red Mans greeting.
You have come here from the foothills, from
the mining camps, from the valleys, from the
capital of our beautiful State and from the
busy hum OF the streets OF this great me-
tropolis to legislate in the interests of your
tribes and our beloved order Many of you
have come that have never been here before,
and to them extend the Great Councils well
come, and feel proud to meet with so much
new blood in the long house OF the order.
When one great ago in the hunting
grounds of MeIamora No. "a you raised me to
this high and honorable position had an i'm
preston that the order on the eve of a
great revival, but l reckoned without my
host. The good times that had been predict
ing for several moons prior to that have not yet
come and stagnation and distress go hand in
hand in our midst. We should, however, give
thanks to the Kishe Manitou for what he has
given US. would have been glad had it been
more. have done the best could.
But you, past great saehems, you, great
you, the rank and file of our honored order,
you have done nobly and 1 feel grateful to you,
one and all, for the manner in which you have
stood by me during my term of Office.
Brothers, my work is before you and your
attention is called to the following brief re-
port OF my official acts aud the labor have
performed. I have visited every tribe and
council in the reservation except the new
council at Elmhurst, many OF them more than
once, aud my labors have been pleasant and
my intercourse wi tn the members will remain
green in my memory SO long as it retains its
faculties.
Continuing the report he read a list oi
official circulars contained in the report to
the advisory committee made by the Cali
fornia representatives to the Great Coun-
ell of the United States.
Speaking of Indian relics he said: 81
would recommend that the collection OF
Indian relics and cuTIos be made promi-
nent feature among the members of our
order, and have the same collected to-
gether. We have in the Office of the Great
Council nest-egg, as 1t were, presented
by Past Sachem S. Berel viz. six Indian
arrows with steel barbs and finished in a
manner peculiar to the aborigines of the
hunting grounds of Mount Shasta"
He also took occasion to congratulate
Oshonee Tribe No. 78 on its success in
winning the prize appropriated at the last
Great Sun session, consisting of 100 faith
cms of wampum, in ordinary language
$780, for the tribe showing the largest per-
centage increase of membership.
Concluding, he said:
And now, brothers, in a few brief suns
shall have surrendered my tomahawk and va
Gated my stump 10 my successor, and / hope
and trust that his term will be grander sue
cess than mine has been.
/ trust our legislation will be conservative
and well considered, adopting only that
which is clearly for the good of the order
and, above all, that our deliberations shall be
conducted with dignity, and that the best ot
good feeling will prevail among the mem bers
Of this Great Council. Brothers, L have done
This was followed by the report OF the
great chiefs. 1t began as follows:
Great Chiefs and Representatives: The hands
on the dial of time again point to the lapse OF
another great sun into the history of our
brotherhood. During the twelve moons just
passed our order has MADE a steady advance in
the growth of our membership and the acqui-
siCion and enlargement of new territory until
now The dwellers near the border line of per-
petual snow UP in the towering Sierras may
clasp hands in the totem ic bonds of our union
with those whose vine-clad cottage is shaded
by the tropical palms and the orange groves
OF the southland and the dwellers of the shin
ing stretches of our great interior valleys.
From the field and the farm, the vineyards
end fruit orchards of our State, from the
mountains where the sturdy miner, with un-
yielding purpose. sends out golden stream
into the channels OF human endeavor, and
from the diversified indus tries of our cities we
have gathered here about this council-fire,
and in this Handsomely decorated wigwam,
replete with the symbolism and the history of
noble fraternity, to deliberate upon the
various measures vital to the welfare of our