Omaha daily bee., 1899-06-29
BLACK ART AMONG RED MEN
Clever Sample. Of Legsrdsmsin Shown BY
the Arickarses.
TRICKS TURNED BY THE NAyAJoes
Some Wonderful stories Told by DR..
Mathews Concernina the smooth
Performances of Mcdi-
cine Men.

Performances of Mcdi-
cine Men.
! The greatest masicians have ever seem"
said Dr Washington Mathews of the army
| TO correspondent of the Chicago Record,
the most expert in legerdemain, were the
Arickaree Indians. who in my time-iu 1865
lived at Fort Berthold, in what Is now
! North Dakota. In the autumn OF that
| year, when the harvest was done and before
! they went out upon their winter hunt,
weeks and months were spent in ceremonies
OF all kinds, picturesque aud symbolic
dances, the celebrations and anniversaries
OF secret societies, etc, among not only the
men, but the women and the little chill
dren.
Events OF this kind occurred every day
and every night. They had 10 the center
Of their village great medicine lodge,
probably ninety feet in diameter circular
in form. In 1t they had performances every
night and we idle white men, who had
nothing else to do, visited these perform
ances more regularly than we would visit
the theaters in city. 1t was place OF
resort with us every night Part OF the
lodge was fenced off for the audience, and
the rest reserved for the performers. In
addition to songs and dances they had exit
bitions of legerdemain. cannot think OF
all their tricks, for years have rolled by
since then. Making little wooden images
smoke pipes. putting a stuffed bird on the
end OF stick and making 1t chirp, were
among the most amusing. The last trick
was probably performed by the use of a
reed in the mouth OF one OF the ma
gicians
THE fire dance was one of their most
int Ina arFA
a tremendous fire. dance around It, and at
certain point the men would break out
and rush into the roaring flames, dance in
them and throw the embers madly in the
air. 1t was then time for us to rush out
ourselves, because we might be struck by
some OF the flying brands. Apparently they
went into the fire barefooted and bare
legged. They wore nothing but breech
clouts
Might after night they had something
new. Another trick was apparently to run
knife through mans arm and let the
blood rush out. They would entertain us
for hours with songs and dances. No ad-
mission was charged, but wo frequently
made them presents.
Navajo Tricks.
What is the greatest trick you have ever
seen among the Navajoes?"
The growth of the corn is a very pretty
trick. 1t takes place at night by the uncer-
tain light of the fire, which confuses the eye
Of the spectator. party of Indians come in
and dance, bearing nothing apparently about
them. They form ring, singing and dane
ing. The ring opens, and there you see
growing out of the bare ground of the corral
a small plant. They sing awhile, and the
ring closes again. When 1t opens a second
time the yucca baccata plant is noticed. In
Indian rites everything goes by fours. 1t is
their sacred number, as three and seven are
sacred numbers with us. There are four
acts in the rite. The second is the plant in
bud The third is the plant in flower. The
ring closes again and when 1t opens there is
the fruit with great beans six inches long
hanging to it. The explanation is that they
bring into the Enclosure with them the
various parts of the plant, which they deftly
place in proper position while the ring is
closed during the incantations.
'They use their blankets to cover. the
work. For rude people like them, with poor
instruments. in the days when they had flint
knives, it must have been a great task to
prepare for this trick. Our waxworkers and
toymakers would not find it dificult The
Indians in the audience believe the dancers
to be gifted with supernatural power. The
performance is partly religious worship and
partly amusement. 1t Is partly with view
OF making abundant fruit and partly for
entertainment. The elements of amusement
and religion go hand in hand everywhere.
The spectacular and the devotional are al
most inseparable. The only place where
they disappear is at a quaker meeting.
The fire dance, perhaps the most inter-
esting ceremony OF the Navajoes," said DR..
Mathews. lis hold in great corral, 200 or
800 feet in diameter. In the center great
ia huilf uhtc fh>
form. On the sides and all around the in =
closure smaller fires are lighted for the
comfort of the spectators and about them
the onlookers gather. The dance is always
held in winter, on cold, frosty nights, with
stars twinkling brightly overhead-'the eyes
of wolves as Longfelow says. Inside this
fire-lighted circle great showers OF sparks
fall all over the corral.
The Fire Dance.
: The first thing is burning the down of
the wand. An immense fire, as big as this
! room, is burning in the center causing great
showers Of embers and sparks to fly in the
| air. Ashes fan on the spectators like snow.
1t becomes too warm for comfort, and you
have to protect your face. When the fire is
at its height a sound like the notes of a
crane is heard, and finally twelve men enter
J the circle They are stark naked and are
painted in white-men of fine physical ap-
} pearance, not fat, but live, lean, athletes.
looking like statues. They move slowly
around close to the fre-a fire that you could
not approach with your clothes on. They 20
through all sorts OF postures imaginable-
classical postures and statuesque postures
They carry on the end OF a stick some eagle
down, their object being to burn 1t OFF In the
fire. They do not appear to suffer from the
heat Of the fire. but how they avoid it is
not certain. They make all the play and
appearance as though their task was dif-
fcult, and 1t certainly is terrible punishment
to approach near enough to the flames to
burn OFF the down. Some rush up quickly
and burn it. Other twist and turn, ap-
parently with much suffering. They dart
at the fire and then retreat, to return again,
turning and turning. and finally the down
is burned from alf the sticks.
Then the task is to restore it. They con-
tinue to dance and dip their wands into the
flames, and suddenly as though by magic,
the ball of down is back again. When this
Ia dnna fhAy he of tha Min