The Saint Paul globe., 1901-04-12
SUCCEEDS JOHN THUNDER
WHITE BEAVER SELECTS GOING
AWAY AS THE NEW WINNIE
BAGO CHIEF
CEREMONY OCCURS TODAY
Choice VIII Be Confirmed by the
Grand Council at Black River
FaIIs--Dr. POWelIs
Position.


and with tncantations suggestive of the
weird, Great Medicine Chief White Beav-
er (Col. D. Frank PowelD will confer on
"Going Away" a -blooded Winnie
bago Indian, the title of medicine chief
of the Winnebago Nation. The cere-
mony will be performed In st. Paul to-
day, and will put at rest the rivalry fer
the successor to John Thunder, recently
deceased.
Going Away an Indian af more than
ordinary intelligence and popular with
the tribe, has been in st. Paul for sew
eral days preparing, for the ceremony
that he will participate in today will be
of lasting memory. His predecessor,
John Thunder, was buried last Sunday,
at sundown, near Black River Falls
with all the pomp and ceremony due one
of royal blood and his ascendency to
the honored Office is calculated to give
him honor and prestige in the tribe Can
didates for the honor were many, ana
Going Away will have the satisfaction of
having wrested the coveted prize from
Striking Thunder John Little SoIder),
John Thunder Jr. and host of Ctier
Winnebagoes equally as prominent.
MUST BE CONFIRMED.
While the appointment must necessarily
come from White Beaver, the great med
icine chief of the nation, confirmation Of
the same will be. made in the grand
council to be held at Black River Falls
in which all the chiefs of the tribe the
medicine men and the warriors will par
tjcipate There the ordeal he will under
go and the oath he will take will be
equally as inspiring and as binding.
While the title medicine man is a mis-
homer in as far as 1t applies to the at
tributes of a doctor in the practice Of
medicine and the prescribing of remedies
for all the ills that the lowly Lo is heir
to, yet 1t carries with it power ascrib-
ed to the medicine man Of old seldom
resorted to in those days of daily asso-
citation with the pale face and gives him
a prestige fully recognized by the tribe
In imparting the oath today White Beav-
er will require of Going Away full COM
pliance with the laws Of the nation and
demand Of him that his powers only be
used for the good Of his people. Any at
tempt to abuse that power would call
for his degradation and exile from the
tribe. With the administering Of the
oath, the regular ritual of the tribe hand
ed down through generations will be car
ried, the ceremony concluding by the
candidate inscribing his name in blood
on the register of the tribe.
POWELL'S POPULARITY.
Perhaps no man in the United States is
held in greater veneration by the Indian
tribes of the Northwest than Col. Frank
D. Powell, of st. Paul. AS great medicine
chief of the Winnebago nation his titls
is not disputed, the title and Office be-
ing conferred on him twenty-six years
ago At that time he performed many
kindly offices for the Winnebago Indians
and so ingratiated himself into their good
graces by his practice of medicine ana
no al cJ1Ta al TO
health of Short Wings, a noted chief Of
that time, that the tribe insisted on his
being their medicine chief. His appoint
ment followed the death Of the then
medicine chief.
Col. Powell to whom the tribe gave the
name of White Beaver, because of his
strength and silvered hair, has Indian
blood in his veins, his great grandfather
being no less a parsonage than Nun-da-
wa, Mountain Dweller, who lost his life In
the great battle at Lundy Lane near
Niagara Falls: Nun-da-wa, who was a
great chief, was afull blooded Seneca
Indian and this strain, weakened as 1t
is by the years that have intervened,
was recognized by the Winnebago In
dians when they admitted him to their
councils. Col. PowelPs appointment is
for life. AS scout, plainsman, Indian
fighter and an intimate companion Of
pIainsmen, Col. Powell has a wide ac-
quaintance with the Indians Of the Norhn-
west and West and in their tepees and
councils his name might he said to be
household word
BEATS SECRET SOCIETIES.
'I am a thirty-third degree Mason,
have undergone all the ceremonies Incl
dental to that high Office and many
others where the ritual was equally as
awe inspiring" said Col. Powell last
night in speaking of the appointment OF
Going Away, "but I must admit that
the ceremonies accompanying my admit
tance to the tribe as their medicine chief,
were the most realistic and weird that
it has ever been my experience to par
ticipate in or witness. While Greek to
the outsider, who may only be impressed
by the striking of tom-toms and mean.
tations of the chiefs, yet each gutteraI
sound made, and every word spoken has
it's significance and meaning and any
violation of the oath administered would
be accompanied by death. In this late
day association with white people has re-
moved the death penalty, but the tie is
equally as binding and violation would
only mean dismissal from the tribe
In the minds of white people the aver
age Indian is associated with the Hitter
ate and worthless, but the WinnebagO
nation, which is a part of the FIVE great
Indian nations, has many who are pres
porous and above the average in inte1li-
gence. The agency is situated near Black
River Falls, Wis, and in that locality
many of the members have good farms
Near Trempeleau, Wis, several big
farms are titled by full-blooded Winnie
bago Indians that would put to shame
some OF their pale face brethren. This
race, has had ingrafted into it's veins
much French blood as the result of in
termarriage. and wherever this exists the
progeny is Industrious and make good
citizens
The Winnebagos, according to Col.
Powell. who has studied their history
carefully and has gone to the trouble of
making considerable research are relat-
ed to the Sioux Indians, their ancestors
being a number who left the tribe be-
cause of dtssensions. They came North
and settled in Wisconsin.
The nation has national state and civil
governments and eacn has its officers,
who are selected for life. Thomas Rod
rey, of Chicago who is known as White
Buffalo, is the great chief. He and Col
Powell are great friends.