The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-03-06
TANNING TIE SIOUX
Dakota Indians Making Prog
resS in Education.
FIERCEST OF INDIANS
Are Now Settling Down to
the Customs of Civilization.
7lERCEST OF INDIANS

Sioux Falls. S. D., March 5.-The Indian
bureau is making remarkable headway in
the civilization of the Sioux of South
Dakota. A visitor to any Of the reser-
vations today might not De inclined to
that belief, but if his memory ran over
a period Of thirty or forty years he
would appreciate the change.
The Sioux used TO be among the ferc-
est INDIANS Of the west To their cred
it are charged many bloody massacres,
notably the killing Of General George a.
Custer and his command Of about 800
men on Little Big Horn river, in Mon
tana. in 1876. Their last determined stand
against che white men was. at the battle
Of Wounded Knee creek in 1880, when 50
officers and men and over 200 Indians
J were killed. Up to that time they had,
! for fifty years. retarded the advance of
civilization west Of the Mississippi. kill
ing and scalping right and left, and muir
derously harassing the government
troops sent out TO protect the builders OF
the Union PacifEs- But a different con-
QlLlOn OF dlldtLo EAlSlS lDDdy- mere are
over 10000 members of the Sioux nation
in South Dakota and they are increasing
annually. The teepee of the plains has
given way to the log, adobe, and farm
house; the war dance is a relic Of the
past, except for an occasional celebration
on the reservat ton when feast dance is
INDUCED in; the war songs are now sup
planted by religious songs taught the
children and the grandchildren at the
day and the Sunday school, the great
hunting expeditions are a thing Of men,
DRY. The Indians paint their faces still,
but so, they argue, does the pale face
sqUayv. Their decoration today is that
of pc rsonal adornment not prelmin-
airy sep to a massacre. The breech-clot
fantastic head gear and streams Of
feathers hive fade way in the majority
of cases for civilian clothes.
On the Pine Ridge reservation live Sis
Indmn $, the remnants of those who par
ticipai. ed in the Custer massacre and the !
Wounded Knee Creek battle More chill |
dren attend school there today than q.
year ago. This tribe devotes its time /
to stock raising. The love for dancing !
and giving away food and property are |
the two tribal customs hardest to aban-
don.
Nearly 5000 Indians reside on the Rose |
bud agency. They have abandoned agri- |
culture for sock raisintg, and during The /
past three years have remodelled their
houses, substituting shingle roofs for old |
time dirt ones, putting in windows, |
building corrals and putting up hay. !
They are growing more numerous and
the attendance of children at the schools
is inc Teasing.
The Cheyenne river agency has almost
5000 redskins and the registration books
at the post show a slight decrease in the
past few years. "The Indians Of this
reservation says Agent Hatch, "as a
people have given up all the Old Gus
toms. Some few individuals here and
there participate in the vapor bath. and
although conjuring is no longer practfsed
some make their medicines in secret
Government physicians are constantly
thwarted in their efforts by the use Of
Indian ostrums. The old idea Of the
Thunder God still remains in the minds
of some, hence in the summer time, as
the black clouds loom up, and during the
storm, cedar is burned as a sacrifice
Some still retain the idea that ghosts
IUdIu dIVuIlAl at Will Win power LOT GNlL ]
and some also fear to go out alone at
night. he old tribal custom of selling
girls in marriage is no longer practsed.
but in place of it-or, rather. as a ling
ering part of 1.-THE brothers. sisters
cousins. uncles and aunts. as well as the
parents. must first give their consent be-
fore the girl can marry The old tradi-
ton that the earth is the Great Father.
the people do not now believe some of
the older people can be seen occasionally
when eating, dropping bits Of food to the
ground as q sacrifice to 'Toonkanshela,'
one Of their greatest gods"
There are less than 2O0o Yankton In
dams in the state. and they prefer farm
ing to stock raising. Dancing and the
giving away Of everything they own are
the old traits hardest to overcome.
At the Sisseton Reservation. on which
are about 1000 Indians, they either farm
or rent their lands to white men. and
live on the proceeds. One custom thar
works a detriment 10 them is visiting
An Indian has very little ambition to s.c-
cumulate stock and grain for as soon as
he does. some Of his friends make him
visit, which terminates only when stock
and other breadstuffs are gone for In
dian etiquette does not permit him TO re-
fuse anything to his friends.
On the Grow Creek and Lower Br1la
reservations are to be found more chill
dren attending school this year than last
Stock raising is the chief industry. With
dancing and visiting rs recreation
To sum up the results. the Indian IS
more successful as a stock raiser than
as former Members Of the rising
generation Of 4ull bloods take 10 educs-
ton. attend school more regularly than
their pale-faced brothers in the civ
schools. and apparently never forget
what they once learn.