The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-03-12

were born. have heard 1t often stated
that the people of a certain tribe are nat
urally hairless. 1t is said they are born so,
and the hairs never grow except on their
heads. This has been often reported, but
until see an Indian grown in order to test
the matter shall continue to doubt
whether the reports are correct.
Some OF these Indians are fine looking.
Take the TOBIAS, for instance have seen
many of them during my travels on the
Paraguay river They are as fine looking
as any Of the Indians OF North America.
They are straight as our pine trees and
as proud in their bearing as any Indian
chief Of the West. They have high cheek
bones, copper-colored skins and straight,
black hair.
The TOBIAS commonly wear no clothes ex-
cept when they come in to the presence
of white people or cross over to Paraguay
to trade. AT such times the women wear
white sheets draped about their bodies.
AT home they have nothing except a
blanket about the waist, that is. when they
are in full dress. The men are satisfied with
a band tied about the head. / have many
photographs Of them, but all are too nude
for publication.
THE INDIAN WOMEN.
The younger women are very fine looking,
and the young braves are among the noblest
of their race. Both sexes age early, and
after thirty the women look old.
Among most of the tribes polygamy is
common, but 1 am told that the women get
along peaceably and that a new and young
wife is welcomed into the family. This may
be from the fact that the women do all the
work, and the more women the less work
1t is the woman who plants the crop, cooks
the meals, makes the fishing nets and
weaves the blankets.
The men only hunt, fish and fight. They
are skilled in the use of the bow and are
it is said, very brave in battle They do
not scalp, but cut off the heads of their dead
and cure them in such way that they can
use the skulls for drinking cups. As a rule
they kill the grown-ups of the tribes they
conquer, but save the children for braves
and wives.
The marriage customs Of the Chaco In
dams are strange. Giovanni Pellaschi an
Italian. who has travelled among them, says
that when one of the TOBIAS wants to marry
he points his cheek bones, lips and the
holiows of his eyes red. He then struts
about the tent of his sweetheart, and later
on brings all the sheep, chickens, skins and
young lady and offers them TO her as
present. If she accepts them the marriage
is on, and he can come in and live with
her family, shortly afterward removing to
a hut of his own. If she refuses, he goes
elsewhere. 1 am told that such marriages
are happy, that the women are faithful, and
that they make good mothers.
These Indians are not very intelligent
have no money and their trading is alto
gether by barter. A community of interests
seems to prevail, and if one of the women
gets piece of finery from a foreigner she
has to divide it with her sisters her cousins
and her aunts.
WIGWANIS OF THE CHACO.
The wigwams of the Chaco are different
from those of our savages. A village often
has its huts built together, so that one
thatch can cover a number of dwellings,
One of these common houses looks much
like a great hay wagon, several families liv-
ing in the different apartments under it.
One part of each hut it used for cooking
and another for sleeping. The people sleep
upon skins when they have them, other
wise on the bare ground. The huts are so
well made that they do not leak They are
Dulll Dy the women, ana Wn6n completed
one of the braves crawls upon the roof and
stamps about to see if he can make the
thatch break through. If he cannot, the
hut is all right but if the roof gives, he
tells his wife to get up and so to work
again.
The Indian women are said to be good
cooks. They use pots and spIts for cook
ing, and l am told they always wash their
pots after using them. They use shells or
gourds for spoons, forks are unknown and
the man is happy who has his own knife.
Some of these Indians have odd ways of
taking care of their dead. If a man is rich
at the time of his death his corpse is put
into a clay jar. This is buried in the hut
and a fire is kept burning over it to con-
sumo the gases as the body decays.
Whether the cooking is done on the same
fire / do not know.
The Indians like to keep their dead with
them, and in the case of the poor the corpse
is buried in the hut and the family lives
outside until the body has so far decom-
posed that it does not cause bad smell
FRANK G. CARPENTER.