The Washington times., 1901-07-22
RED MEN BECOME VOTERS.
P0mp and Ceremony at an Indian
Council in Oklahoma.
Preparations Made for the Meeting
Weeks BeforchaHd-The Purifying
Proccss-A Visit to the Agents
House Including u sun Dance.

With all the pomp and ceremony pecu-
| liar to their race, the members Of the
Kiowa, Comanche, Apache. and Wichita
Indian trilss have just held a zig council
| at Daf.:rgton, Okla, and declared them
selves to be full-fiedged white citizens,
with a -::9,,::.t to vote at all territorial and
| national elections The power of voting
| was conferred upon them at this meeting
| by Geronimo. the noted Apache warrior
As a matter of fact, they have really had
| the power to vote ever since they settled
upon their allotments. But thfs meeting
was on peculiar programme and shows
how civilization runs in them.
| Several weeks before the meeting the
Indians began to erect huge arbors from
| the limbs of trees. The squaws were put
to work carrying the well-leaved limbs
| from the forest, and they were kept at II
| until the red men had erected fully 2OO
| arbors for shade and sleeping purposes.
| Then a great space in the cenue was
| cleared Of grass and sprinkled with a
white chalk which had been blessed by
| the medicine man for the occasion.
AS the day for the big meeting drew
nearer, Indians came in from all direc-
tons. Some were on horseback, others
in wagons, and not few on bicycles.
accompanied, of course, by Government
guard. Although eighty years old, he
stood the trip well and was ready to take
part in an exciting gr'el corn lance when
he arrived.
The meeting was held under the direc-
ton of Wolf Ears. a tail young Indian
who had often visited Washington and
who derived his popularity from a gen.
orally circulated story that he had been
upon several occasions a guest at the
White House For this alleged intimacy
with The White Father, he stood higher in
the estimation of his people than any
other one man, unless it was Geronimo.
This old fighter could not take charge
of the meeting for the reason that he
only spoke the Apache language, and
there were a number of lesser warriors
at the meeting jealous because of the
prominence given him.
As every Indian drove up, he was taken
in charge by medicine man and led to
creek, where he was ordered to battle
This was done to wash off all the evil in
fluences of camp life. Then he was taken
into a mud lodge and various secret cere-
monies We're gone through with. One of
these was described by Running Elk as
follows:
Il was asked if / had ever killed any
one, and l told them l had slain four
palefaces in one battle. / was then asked
if / was not sorry, and l said l was not
sorry. Then the medicine man told me L
could not become a paleface. l said to
him: Do you suppose the paleface would
let an enemy shoot him and make no
effort to protect himself? If so, then l
do not want to become one of them The
medicine man said the palefaces were no
towards, and he let me pass. Then | was
rubbed all over with the juice of a berry
and sprinkled with the sacred white chalk.
After that | was placed in sweat lodge
for a long time. Then l came forth and
did as the Others"
The first day was spent in going through
this purifying process. The night was
used rather oddly for Indians-they all
retired to their tepees and slept. This
was done TO initiate the good white farm
ers who rent land of the Indians, and
who are now the models of the redskins,
instead of the objects of their scorn and
laughter. 1t used to be their idea at night
TO dance until midnight. then feast until
daybreak and sleep by day. This abrupt
change went rather hard with some of
them, and the young men VINO could
stand ii no longer slipped from their
tepees to the creek banks, a half mile
away, where they danced to their heart :
content. They were severely reprimanded
for ii the next day, but they had enjoyed
the fun. For their frolic they came near
not receiving the insignia of the paleface-
the beaded vest and striped shirt.
fsrly on the second day Lone Wolf,
medicine ran, clad in Whit blanket,
and with long feather in his hair,
started the il dians in the green rn
dance. This is a new dance, which has
been invented by Lone Wolf to celebrate
the occasion. Some of them mop around
az hey q
while others sit on the ground as II they
were shclling corn. The dance is so much
more difficult than all the others that the
Indians did not care much about II. But
when Lone Wolf tolG them that they
must learn ii or they could not enter INTO
the paletace domain. their desire to over
come all obstacles in becoming a true
paleface caused them to go into the green
corn dance with zeal. II was rather
amusing TO see the expressions on the
faces of the bucks while they were do
ihg this dance. 1t was too much like
work to bring out the cheerful smile so
common in the wild dances, and most of
them looked shamefaced. The squaws
sat apart and gigSled, thinking, no doubt
that il was great fun to see the men work
while they sat by and did nothing De-
spite the fact that the Indians objected to
going through this dance they kept 1t up
for a whole day, as Lone Wolf told them
they must do. That night they slept
again as the farmers did around them.
The third and fourth days were de-
voted to visits to the agents house. The
principal medicine men and warriors put
on their sun dance regalia and danced
in circle around the front of the agents
house. With their long war bonnets fall
ing from the forehead. around over the
back of the head and almost To the
ground, their heads thrown back and a
happy expression on their faces, the In
dians did not look much like ever be
coming tamable. but their visit to the
house of the agent was for the purpose
of showing him how they used to do and
how they would never do again. They
sang the songs Of the ghost dance. while
they hoped around in front of the aRen-
cy. The agent came out and handed them
q new silk flag. No thanks were offered
Instead, several young bucks came for
ward and. grabbing it from his hand
raced around the open space, dragging il
under their feet. II vas their manner Of
honoring the Stars and Stripes. while in
any other nation it would have meant an
insult.
Four or five days of speechmaking fol
lowed, and then the Indians gathered at
the arbor and signed the following paper,
which was written out in English and
interpreted 20 the council in general ses-
sion. The treaty, as it was called, was
read aloud by Standing Bow. while all
tened. 1t reads:
I'VE want to be big paleface voters
Like white man, who holds Office and
draws heaD rations. We want have big
farms and herd cows. We want ride in
smoke wagons and see white man ride
five horses (meaning the trains and cir
cuses), and we want to have fine tepee
houses and soft wagons to ride in. We
vote best way and he heap white. No
more We so on horse steal trips and dance
no more so
MAJOR SYLVFSTER'S HORSE.
No Truth in the Report That the