Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-10-03

cling to him. ThuS 1t comes ABOUT tnal
whenever a Mohawk or 1roquos brave
wants to summon his wedding guests he Sc
cures purple grain of corn, passes quietly
among a crowd of his fellows and slips the
grain for a moment into the hand of him
whom he desires a guest at the feSt1v1-
! ties. The Six Nations bride has not yet
| fallen in love with the printed wedding card,
| even though her mother is deeply offended
| whenever any one refers to her, IN the good
! old Indian way, as squaw.
Even the Diggers Have Fallen in Line.
Another striking example of the new In
| dian is found in California among the Dig
| gers long considered the most degenerate
| of the North American red men.
Many a Digger still lives on worms and
grasshopper pies, but he is usually of the
| dying generation. The large majority of
| the members of the present generation has
| departed absolutely from the revolving ways
| of their fathers, and are living in the
| white mans way. This is true of as
| many full-blooded Diggers of those that
have white blood in their veins; and neither
( class is small, numerically.
| These Diggers have been more succ> 'sful
| in agricultural pursuits and in cattle rails
| ing than their white neightors. This is
| especially true of the half-breed descend
| ants of Digger women and early California
| miners, who, failing at gold hunting, took
! up ranching. There are many wealthy
| men among them, who tour Europe and
| buy works of art to decorate their homes
| which stand on sites where once their faith
| erS grubbed up roots for breakfast.
! 1t is peculiar fact that these full-blooded
and half-breed families do not readily take
| to the luxuries of the white man in some
| respects. No matter how large and sump-
tuously furnished their homes may be. the
| bed rooms are always fitted out with al
! most Spartan simplicity. The men sleep
| on small hard cots, over which sheep skin
| or blankets are spread No mattresses
| sheets or spreads add to their comfort.
| An American. who once spent week at
| the home of one of these Digger ranchers
| and wine growers, says:
! His home supplied with every CIV
ilized article of comfort and adornment.
| The young ranCher himself college
| graduate and had Travelled extensively He
| could discuss literature as intelligently as
| he could speak cattle raising and his
| tastes were every bit as refined as those of
his American neiChbOrS.
| zone day an old Indian squaw appeared
| and stopped at the house for several days.
! Her hair was long and bedraggled her face
black and wrinkled. her dress consisted of
| an old Bingham Mother Hubbard and a
| blanket and her bare feet were wrapped in
| cotton bandages in lieu of stockings She
| could not even speak English beyond a few
| laconic expressions picked up from miners
and trappers She was type of the old
| Digger Squaw of years ago
who's the old woman? 1 asked.
Z" My aunt replied the young man. She
came down mere TO rest up after a long
spree. The tribes just had feast to cele-
brate the chiefs marriage, and they all
! got pretty sick on white mans fire water.
They don't understand the art of mixing
cocktails yet
Most of the new style Diggers, however,
have severed all relationship with their
barbarian relations, and give their blanket
ed tribesmen Scant courtesy.
The New Alaskan Indians
The Alaskan Indians have also shown
remarkable tendency to adopt civilized
ways within the last ten years. In Cali
fornia there many full-bloods from
Alaska tribes studying in the public schools,
and several have entered the state univer-
sity where they have shown a remarkab BILE
intelligence. A Swedish trader named San
dalin whose post is at Kamtschatka, has
been instrumental in sending down to San
Francisco numbers of children of prominent
chiefs, all of whom have become cult
waited citizens of this country. Others
have come of their own volition. and have
returned to spread enlightenment among
their own people, and now the Indians
around Fort Wrangle. Kodiak, Sitka and
KamtSchatka are anything but barbarOuS,
and the traveller in the far north sees whole
communities of red men who wear the garb
of western civilization with the ease of the
occidental himself
Red Ranchers of Southern California.
Like their PARKWAY brothers In Alaska.
the full-blooded red men of southern Cali
fornia are also fast acquiring new ways.
These Indians were ChrstianiZed a CEN
| fury ago by the Spanish padres. Father
| Jumpero Sierra was especially active in con-
verting the red heathens. But converting