The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-12-09

/ crafty one. He had good gun and a
sure aim ana promptly knocked down q
well-furred buffalo out Of herd beside
the trail. He speadiiy flayed the re-
mains and wrapping himself comfort
ably in this extemporized blanket, ghast-
y side out, Of course. he gave old Mr..
Boreas the merry trill and then SLEPT
the sleep Of the rescued. He awoke with
the sunshine. The norther had spent
itself, but that green buffalo hide, all so
I CORY and reeking when he had swathed
/ il about him. was frozen as stiff as boil
( er iron. and there M was-locked in
until nearly monday, ny which time the
/ kindly sun iinlbered up the epider1nis Of
/ the late Bos Americans ana turned the
prisoner loose.
/ The losses ofthe settlers in livestock
/ were enormous, both in horses and cat
/ tie. but especially the former. Cattle
/ were being killed for immediate use, be-
/ Ing too slow to be got out Of the coun-
/ try and buffalo were plenty everywhere.
/ When the government finally took the
matter UP. the Indians were rounded up
at Fort Sill, and this marked the begin
ming Of these tribes career as reserva-
ton Indians. Here were also corraIIed
1000 head Of horses which had been
stolen from settlers, but which became
Uncle Sans as spoils of war. These
were condemned and sold at auction.
According to Mr.. Blackburn the owners
of horses were not permitted to identify
and take away their property. but were
told to list their brands, with an inven-
tory Of their animals This they did
but-well Fort Sill was a long ways out
in the wilderness in those days and Uncle
Sam couldn't be looking all ways at
once: and so, if he lost out entirely on
the deal and never knew what he'd MISS
ed, 50 much the better for those who
might choose to turn, as devotees from
Mars to Hermes for a season.
Leaving now the Kiowas and COM
anches and reverting to the proposition
that Poor 10 has streak or two Of
good in him the Kiekapoos who are TO be
found near Shawnee. serve as an ex-
ample Their dogfest. for instance. US
ually cited as an disqualification OF their
degradation and depravity, is held by
those who know them best to be an en-
inentIy respectable and edifying festival.
To him who looks beneath the surface to
the spiritual reality the dog feast is as
worthy Of reverence as the most solemn
observance of the Christian church In
fact it is held to approach very nearly
to the Christian communion service The
benighted Kickapoo has the same sense
of shortening as the devout Christian
has, only with an Indian Conscience and
according to the Indian idea OF what is
pleasing in the sight o. the Great Spirit (
He has the same sense Of an offended
deity to be proptiated as has the ortho-
dox Christian. His is the same idea Of
sacrificing the best. To him his dog
stands for all that is faithful. loyal self
sacrificing and patient. Hence he de- I
votes him to the sacrifice, hoping that
the poor brute's excellence viii atone for
his own defecas. He takes his favorite /
log away into the woods and makes him /
a long talk, to the effect Substantially /
as set forth IN the creed outlined above. /
and ends with telling him now he is 90
ng to send him up to the Great Spirit (
% bark loud and make a great noise and (
ct the Great Spirit know he is represent
ng poor faulty Indian who would ne
good indian If he knew better how. and
f it were not so hard to keep always in
he trail to the Great Spirits lodge The
log is killed with club, no blood being
ct. The official club Of the KickaDoo
ribe is a hickory stick less than two
eet in length with the bark on At
ach annual dogItilling a notch is cut in
he stick There are now 1876 notches.
which shows that this particular stick
egan Its sacred function in the year
7o4. The eating Of the dog Is a solemn
CEREMONY, the tribe going into secret
ession while Fido's flesh is devoured 1t
s probable that the eating of the dogs
esh is based upon a separate idea. the
logically, from the slaughter of the ami
nal and it is apparently a lower con-
option Thus, while the idea Of sacri-
&c can be traced as a close parallel to
he Biblical conception, the Hebrew
lerely selecting the lamb as the symbol
excellence of character and the Indian
hoosing the dog the devouring of the
esh may be due to an idea that the
og's good qualities may pass with his
sxture and be assimilated herewith into 7
Ne system OF the Indian. In likeness 70 / {
le idea Of the South sea cannfbal that
lille morsel of any fellow-man IS good 7
Is far better to partaks Of the warrior {
no was strong and brave in life. and
hose qualities are to be taken over bv Z
ldng him. r
And even here, though It IS getting \
city close TO the ground where the
loes must come off. there IS perhsnz
1t quite irreverently. the Swallowing Of 1
he broken body"