Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1902-08-30

Dr. l.. y. hayneW anu wire nave re-
turned from the Indian sun dance at
White Eagle, says a Wellington (I1an.)
dispatch to the New York Journal.
1.-The government has decreed that
the Indians shall never hold another
sun dance" said DR.. Mayhem.
Even this year the government de-
MED the Indians the right to torture
themselves. In former times they
slashed themselves with knives and
gOuged out pieces of flesh with blunt
stones, etc. The result was that the
Indians were led into the greatest of
excitement Often outbreaks among
the Indians have been attributed to
these sun dances. If an Indian can
dance all day in the rays of the sun,
looking all the time into its face, with
out firing or showing signs of exhaus-
ton, he has conquered the sun. Such
an achievement allows him privileges
in the tribe that make him a great
man.
''The dance is of course the outcome
of a superstitious belief, yet an In
dian never becomes too old or too ed
ucated to forego this belief. In the
mob of seventy or eighty bucks and
squaws who took part in the Ponca
sun dance this year were several grad
yates of Haskell, Carlisle and Chilioc-
co Indian schools. Their paint and their
equipage were just as bright and
gaudy as those worn by the most ig-
norant of the tribe. In the mob of
dancers were representatives of the
Poncas, Pawnees, OtOes, Tonkawas,
Omahas from Nebraska, and Sacs and
Foxes.
1.-THE sun dance is a religious func-
ton and is not done for the mere sport
of the thing or for the benefit of the
white spectators. The Indian believes
Just as much in the tiresome ordeal as
the white man does in joining the Ma
sons or any secret order, and part of
the business of the dance is done I'm Sc
cret. not even the Indians who are not
eligible to become dancers being per-
mitted to know what is going forward.
Some kind of herb is stewed and eat
en-, some kind OF narcotic is burned
and inhaled from long pipes.
when the dancer appears for the
day, he is adorned with paint, feath-
ers, blanket or whatever it is his Of
flee to wear, just as his degree be-
tokens.
'The Indians have many ideas that
control the dance, one being the Civ
ing of expensive presents. Only the
dancers have the privilege of selecting
to whom the presents be given. Ev
erything from money to ocher goes.
Some of the lucky Indians receive
money and some silk and broadcloth
dress patterns, ponies, tents and even
sewing machines. The custom is for
the squaw to appear with a roll of
money that would choke a COW, some
horses, many of which are led with
halters made from silk or broadcloth
dress patterns, and their tails and
names tied up with the same expensive
harness, and select which of the Wis
iting tribes is to be honored. Chief
White Eagle would then advance, sing
ing a crude song, and at the suggestion
of some of the dancers of the Ponca
tribe single out a buck or squaw as
the case might be from the visiting
tribe and present the gift.
Then the dance would proceed
There were fully 1,S0O Indians attend
ing the dance, and they were the guests
of the POncas, who suffered in pocket
keeping them and giving them pres
are just now rolling in wealth. Mer-
chants in Ponca City and other towns
adjoining the reservation are getting
rich on the sale of material to the
POncas.
None of the dancers can keep up
his work continuously all day. The
festival runs from sun-up to shutdown,
but the dancers repair to tents at in
tervals to refresh themselves with
stew and narcotics. A part of the GER
emOny is held the night before the
dance begins and is secret. In the
morning of the first day the chief
mounts knoll and with q large cross
made of tree limbs tells how the tribe
has endured. Once he says, the tribe
had no black paint with which to paint
the cross, but we burned prairie grass
and mixed it with water and made
black paint Then he would adorn
the base of the cross with black paint
The top is painted red to signify blood.
The black signifies war
1.-The Indian who loses a member of
his family never mourns until the time
of the sun dance. He gives a certain
day during the dance to shed his tears
and relieve his soul, and he does it
with atvengeance- Some of the worst
noises imaginable come from the tents
where the mourners are at work.
During his period of mourning he does
not eat or sleep. He drinks water and
means.
1.-THE camera has no business at the
dance. The Indian police were vigor-
Gus in seeking them out and breaking
them to pieces. A government repre-
sentative from the Smithsonian insti-
tute was on hand to take pictures, and
he was unmolested, as he had permits.
''The dance was held near the ia
nous tO1 ranch of the Millers, and one
of the Miller boys was in the thick of
the dance. The Indians think a great
deal of the Millers, and this boy strip
ned off his cIntI,incr md ma infad Nm To