Omaha daily bee., 1899-06-29

bare feet When they catch up with the
man In front they fageilate him with the
burning wande. Sometimes they wrap them
around his body. They continue TO tear
around the ire until the torches are nearly
burned. Then they throw down the stump
that remains in their hands. rush out OF
the corral and disappear in the darkness
These men look like marble statues. and
as they rush about in the weird light OF the
dying FIRE, with blazing torches in their
hands, from which the hre streams six or
eight feet. It is grand spectacle. The
question is whether the cedar bark ignites
at low temperature and does not emit
burning heat, or whether the white clay
With which the Indians coat their bodies
Is an excellent non-conductor. The latter
think Is the secret These tricks are per
formed during the ceremony OF the Noun
tain Chant All the night is given over TO
them.
Have you ever known a Navajo to 60 on
the platform and perform his tricks?" I
asked.
II have never known Of such a thing.
do not know that any one has ever tried to
induce them. They might be induced but
whether they would give a satisfactory per-
formance Is a question. Out in their native
country, with their primitive surroundings,
burning in the corrals and with their unique
situation It is very impressive. do not
know what would be the effect II the tricks
were tried on q stage"
Fish Tabooed.
Ibid you know" continued Dr. Mathews
that none OF the Pueblo Indians nor the
Navajos eat fish? They will not touch
with their lips anything in the way Of a
n I'd In thap
fuse candies that were shaped like fish. One
day the landlady of the Cornucopie hotel, a
slab shanty at Fort Wingate. related to me
what she called a good Joke on an Indian
She employed young Navajo warrior to do
chores around her kitchen. The Navajo
warrior has no pride about the performance
of menial labor. He will do almost anything
at which he can earn money, and this one
would do any work for her but clean Ash
He would eat, too almost anything In her
kitchen except fish. Noticing his aversion
to the fnny tribe she one day sportively
emptied over his head a pan OF water in
which salt fish had been soaked. The In
dian screamed in terror, and, running a
short distance, tore in haste every shred Of
clothing from his body and threw II all
away. She learned that he afterward bathed
and made a lot of medicine to purify him
work for her. SO this little trick cost her a
good servant.
Our philanthropsts wonder at the reluc-
tance of Indians to send their children to a
distant school, and think IL is foolish stub
bornness. They cannot realize that, in addi-
tion to many practical and sentimental rea-
sons, there are long cherished religious
| scruples to be overcome-reasons which are
the most potent of all-and among these
| not the least is that they know their chill
| dren will be obliged to violate tribal taboos
! The Navajos have heard from returning pill
grims that the boy who goes to the Indian
| school In the east may be obliged to eat
geese ducks and fish or go hungry: or that,
If he eats not at first of these denominations,
he may be ridiculed and chided till he
changes his customs.
| Some Reason for It.
"Dr. p. c. Bicknell, in discussing this
question in the Popular Science News, saws
| that after long inquiry he found one In
dian who gave him the true reason, or at
| least the traditional reason, why fish were
tabooed. He was handsome, gray headed
man. tall, stout, and well-knit,' said Mr..
| Bicknell. He informed me that he had
served the government as scout for three
| years and that he had a 14-year- r-old boy at
the Indian school at San Carlos who was
learning everything, all same white man
He himself spoke English quite we'll. In
answer to my question he told me that a
long time before his first grandfather was
born there came five or six years when
Apaches could not get enough to eat. Deer
and antelope were very scarce. because there
| were too many to hunt them The wise
men said we must make big war and
kill many people, so that the others can
| live But first came a big powwow. All