Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1902-05-08

SCHOOL. IL Is u SOFC. OF caUeC UNIFORM
and very becoming. but they discard it
as soon as they have been at home
awhile, and they attire themselves in
old clothes and any old thing that
looks like the delirium tremens. They
seem to be trying to see how hideous
they can look. They do not want civ
iliZation; they do not want education
they do not want Christianity; they
do not want to work Hence it is
all an uphill business. A few Of the
Indians seem to be inclined to adapt
themselves to the new conditions and
would like to assume the way of their
pale faced neighbors. but the majority
is against them
In some manner they have acquired
the ability to write They use En-
Glish script. but write in their OWL
tongue. In their correspondence they
contine themselves mostly to postal
cards. They write postal card full.
and it it is too small for the purpose
they write the continuation on a sec.
ond postal They have friends in the
other reseryat tons over the United
States. They write letters to the Chip
peWa reservation in Wisconsin and to
the WinnebagOes and Sacs and Foxes
in Oklahoma and Indian Territory.
The day | was there Miss Jennie
Two Crows got package through the
postoffice. which evidently was a
photograph, probably d photograph
from her sweetheart in some foreign
tribe. Me IA Ia is the name of an
other girl who got a postal Their
postals are absolutely free from the
prylng eyes of the most inquisitive
postmaster, for he may read them a
dozen times, and when he is done he
will not know as much as when he
began.
Their language seems to be all syl.
tables. Here is a sample OF Mus
quake letter:
''Me-ka-ti. My, o-tu-Ki-ti, WOW.
MARY Black Crow"
endorse every word of it. [ think
what is said in it is doubtless the best
thing that can be done under the cir
cumstances!
Their marriage customs are very
loose. II young gallant thinks he Is
III love with a fair damsel, and if he
thinks she can take good care of his
ponies and Of his dogs. and if she is a
good worker, according to his needs
he tells her so, and if she is agreed
she announces it. and they are mar
ried. Ii she refuses him he does not
go away and throw himself into the
river and drown himself. He knows
there are plenty as good fish in the
sea as any that have been caught. He
calls on another ladyloye and may
fare better. If he gets tired of her
he quits her and she goes home to he1
folks. Yet, the divorces are not as
numerous as you would expect. an
their constancy averages up with the
whites, am told.
The squaw does the work, as already
stated. But there is not a great deal
to be done. The Indians like milk
but being so unspeakably lazy there is
not a COW on the reservation There
are no chickens, or if any. but very
few. They are too shiftless to hunt
the eggs. The squaws cook and sew
and make moccasins and tan dog
skins, since there are no wild animals
They do fancy Indian work, but there
is no great rush of work as there was
in the days when they struck camp
every little while to go to better
hunting ground. or when they had tc
dodge other hostile tribes. All that is
passed and gone. and these Indians
seem but "Reminiscences of the glory
and grandeur of the days that were
and are not. The squaw carries hel
baby good deal like her ancestor did
only the regular Indian cradle is about
out of date. They do not strap theiI
babes on a sort of rack made for the
purpose, as they used to, though there
are still some of the old ancestral era.
dies to be seen. But when a squaW "
goes to church. the ghost dance. or t.
town, or anywhere. she wraps a blan.
ket around her and enfolds her babe
bringing it on her back and shoulders