Evening star., 1900-12-22

| bounding from his tepee blowing fercely
| upon his medicine whistle. The braves who
| had been painted and dressed for this sig
| ha! Tor nearly a week, were out of their
| tepees in a few moments and racing to-
| ward the dance grounds, to the southeast
| OF the Indian village. They ran with all
lnelr might m order to arrive before the
| sound Of the whistle had died in the echo
| Hastily forming in a semi-circle, the medi-
cine men waited for a second signal. Red
Eagle called in shrill voice for his squaw
| to follow him. She kneeled inside the curve
| Of the circle while the braves danced and
| chanted this appeal:
All, va, the crow says
The fox says ah, ya
You will not kill our squaws
on. Father, do not kill our squaw.,
We will dance the sun Dance
We will do right
Finally Red Eagle stopped his dancing
| ana went with his squaW to the outer edge
OF the dance circle, where he gently showed
| her toward the tepee. The redskins yelled
| 5oyously' tor they knew the curse had been
removed from the heads of their squaws
1t still remained to the tribe, however.
Buryins the Dead Chief.
Two weeks has now elapsed since the
death of Nah-malway, and yet no chief
mad been named. Whenever a chief dies
and leaves his curse upon the tribe the
selectlon or proper man to succeed him is
indeed a delicate problem. This curse
i must be removed by the head medicine man
before new chief can be selected ka-
"an-so, the head medicine man of the tribe,
ana master or ceremonies at all important
dog feaSts and medicine affairs, was not in
attendance at the sun dance having gone
into the hills to commune with the Great
spirit relative TO the appointment of new
ch!ef. Upon his return he called the red
skins in front of his lodge and spoke to
them In loud voice: Il have talked with
the Great Spirit about this matter and he
SAYS l must order a dance a
all good again. He says we must bury the
dead chief with proper ceremony and in
meantime | Will choose the chief he has
instructed me to. He said that our old
chief was a false man, and we must bury
MIN good or he would come back again"
AS master of ceremonies he then ordered
! the braves to put on their black paint and
assemble at the burial grounds at sunrise.
There, with the principal medicine chiefs
forming a circle about him and the younger
members of the tribes seated around the
outer edge, ka-wan-so called upon the
Great Spirit to hear them in their delibera-
tions. berry tree, which had been cut
for the purpose, was brought forward, and
each one ate red berry therefrom to drive
away forever the evil curse of the departed
chief whose remains lay wrapped in a
blanket in the midst of the circle After
an invocation the young men raised the
body and carried 1t to a small hut which
was to be its last resting place.
The American flag was holsted over the
hut to distinguish it from others Then
the two hundred Indians, as if relieved of a
great sorrow sang:
Our Father, have pity on us,
Make us to be wise,
Make our new chief great man,
Make our new chief good man.
Installing the New Chief
The chant rang out across the plains
until the wooden grave had been nailed
securely fast, while the guests of this
strange. burial ceremony sat around with
bowed heads. Then Ka-wan-so gave a
piercing cry. known as the death cry"
after which all adjourned to the dancing
circle. This was a smooth place. about a
quarter of mile square. The Indians lost
no time in getting into the dance. The sun
was now directly above them and very hot
The braves were naked to the waist. They
formed a circle around two big fires. Two
tom-tom, or drum beaters, sat near these
fires and beat irreguarly making no effort
to keep time with each other. Then the
leading medicine men, aided by the 200
voices Of the braves. chanted another ap-
peal to the Great Spirit, while the dancers
hoped around the fire. the bodies swaying
and the paint rolling from them In the
food Of perspiration. The fire blazed high
as the Indians piled on the sacred wood,
blessed by the medicine men. The dancers
grew more excited. Some fell to the
ground. Others went into the medicine lodge
and were supposed to be very sick. They
went through all sorts Of motions, depict-
Ing their agony. Later. possessors Of the
sacred otter skins. which most of the dam
GERS wore about their loins. tore the skins