The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1901-08-24
AN INDIAN FIRE DANCE.
Gruesomc Ceremonial Performed II
Comm enOratiOn of the Death
of n Noted Chief.

he Mesa GranQc Indians OF San
Diego county gave the widest fire.
dance that has ever been witnessed
in this part of the country near here
short time ago says southern CAL
ifornia paper.
The ceremonial was given to COM
memorate the death of Jose Clayto,
prominent young chief of his tribe,
who was killed last year. Big mourn
ing ceremonies attended his burial,
but none of them were so terrific as
the memorial orgies.
The dance was given at nine o'clock
at night in the large open square Of
the fiesta grounds of the village.
In the middle of the plaza great
fire of logs lighted up the weird
scene and threw a Pickering and un-
certain illumination upon the wild
and excited faces and figures of hun.
dreds of squattang squaws and stand.
ing Indians, all hideously and gro
tesquely painted and all grimly watch
ing the places where the dancers
were concealed.
| About $3.50 o'clock two great Indi-
ans emerged from the deep mysteri-
GUS shadows of the ramadas about
20 yards from the spectators, and,
slowly crouching and STOPPING as
they came, approached the fire, ut.
tcring wild, strange gutteral cries.
They were naked to the waist, and
their great, dark, sinuous bodies were
painted hideously with white paste.
They wore Il hcaddress of owl fcath-
crs and festoon of eagle plumes
drapcd from their shoulders to their
waists.
In their strange, savage, crouch
ing position they danced slowly and
solcmnly about the fire three times,
howing, kneclng and gcsticulating to
ii with harbaric cries and yclls and
then disappearing in the shadows
whence they came.
An interval of silence followed, dur
ing which the fire played fitfully
upon the set, tragic faces of the spec
| tatorS. The roar and carklc of the
burning logs was the only sound in
the great plaza.
| AT last a solitary Indian lcaped
| from the shadowy ramahas with
wild, uncarthly cry and circlrd about
the fire with mad y"lls and excited
gestures, three times, aud then re-
turned with another strange cry into
the shadows.
He was followed by n band of Is In
dinns who emerged from the dark
ness crawling slowly on their hands
and knees. AS they came they ut
| tered strange, low Guttcra sounds in
their throatS. They. like their pre-
drcrssors, were nanrd to their waists
and dauhcd with Strcnkcd aud white
paint. Their 1.-the brown legs were
bare, but their lons were cncircled
with short skirt of dark feathers.
They wore head dresses of black
! crow feathers which fell to their
waists in dark fes: oons.
The procession of crawling Indians
was preceded by three braves, who
walked backward, and apparently
tried to herd tho others back. AS the
procession slowly wound around the
fire ten of the crawling creatures
tried to roll into the blaze. but they
were prevented by the herdcrs.
| WIN wv 'itIlt lliiu Illiuc Ine cir
Gle of the blaze three times it came
to Il halt and the borders were hand
ed bowl of a magic fluid by the med
icinc men which they sprinltlcd upon
! the heads aud backs of the kneelng
savagcs with feathers.
During this ceremony not n sound
was heard but low, monotonous
chant which the squnws had begun as
| the procession halted.
After the sprinkling the band
lcapcd up and began furious dance,
accompanied by y"lIs and shricks of
maddrncd excitement. AS the dance
grew wilder the chants grew louder
and more frantic, the women Joined
i'm the chorus, and for ten hours the
braves danced until they could hard
| ~ stand. The women hcapcd up the
fire, he logs blazcd up and illuminate
ed the whole plaza, and the assembly
! joined in the furious dance.
For n half hour this continued. and
then all but the original dancers
Withdrew. led by old Sononc with his
medicine rattle.
Then came the most hidcous part
of The whole hidrous performance.
Suddenly with deep gr,lnts and gut
tnrnI snnrlS OF excitement, the whole
band sat down about the fire and
| thrust their feet into the blaze.
The place was filed with the sick
cning odor of burning flesh, but not
one indian ninchcd or moved his feet
from the fire.
The dance continued until the In
dams had danced the Goals out, when
they all fell on their knees where the
fire had been. and with frcnzicd cx-
| citcmcnt beat il out with their UNI
protected hands.
Even with n Changing Committee"
The opening of the French Salon
has reminded a French contemporary
of what happened at its opening in
1915. A picture had been accepted
which represented All Egyptian tenn
pie, it's walls covered with hieroglyph-
les. On the opening day, after tho
picture was hung, the translation of
these hieroglyphirs was distributed,
and to its horror the hanging commit
tee found remarks Of this kind upon
| the temple walls: "a fig for the hang
ing committed" IN. $50, painter,
member of the hanging committee, in
an idiot;" IN. ------, the architect, 10
an ass" M. -, the sculptor, is
warned that his wife"-and so on. Az
there were only two men in Paris at