Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1905-12-21
GLUTTONOUS SIOUX.
INDIANS SAID TO BE EATING
THEMSELVES TO DEATH.
The Once Great Tribe Reduced TO a
Remnant and Very Largely
Through Inordinats
Appetite.

ii lhomas A. Edison referred to
'he american Indians when he said
that people were eating themselves to
death, he could find plenty of cor
roDoration of his theory on the reser-
Vatiohs. Overeating is doing more to
DflnS about the extinction of the Stony
ana 1ankton Indians than race suj-
cue hfe water and all the diseases
winch haunt the wigwam of the red
man.
ne great tribe of Sioux Indians Is
disappearing. The members il is de-
ciaFed' are literally eating themselves
10 death on account of the pIentv
about them.
With the new railroad being built
lhrough the White river valley the
INDIANS Will be enabled to secure SIM
pIles with greater ease. They are
llkely 10 become greater feeders than
'hey are now, and thus to hasten the
time OIL their disappearance from the
reservations in South Dakota
II colroborative evidence was not
easily obtained, it would scarcely he
accepted as true that in the coursa
OF night of feasting, dancing and
story telling the average, Indian will
consume from 10 to II pounds of meat
and if he has an abundance of food
ana can make his cwn selection of
Ihe parts to be eaten, he will swallow
without inconvenience not less than
~ pounds of meat in a single night,
carloads of canned meats are con-
sumed by the overfcd Sioux Indians
and some canned goods have become
almost as sacred a dish with the red
men as the fat dog stew of old for
"hlcn the Sioux Tube is famous.
Among the varieties of canned goods
eaten to excess the oyster holds first
place. A hungry Indian will eat half
dozen cans and drink the liuuor.
Besides the harm done by eating ex-
ceSSl'e amounts OF food, the fact that
1t is not properly prepared makes it
the more injurious. There is no va
rlety or style about Sioux Indian
cookery, no French methods. no ne
ceSslty for titillating appetites already
over keen
A pot full of meat and water is nut
on the fire by the scuaw and allowed
10 neat, but there is no definite time
Tor the meal to cook and no point in
the cooking process when it is done
The dinner is ready whenever her lord
comes in and grunts about being
hungry.
II the Indian is especially hungry
he may begin on the contents of the
hetlIe by the time the meat is fairly
warm. There is never any fault-fnd
ing about the way in which the food
Is prepared, and whether it is half
raw or done to rags, no objection is
made by the head of the family
The Indians know the choicest It'd
bits OF every animal, and how to
COOK them. The hunt at this time of
the year gives the Sioux Indian the
fullest enjoyment of his appetite. and
during the next three months the
average buck will devour enough meat
10 satisfy four ordinary men.
Condiments are in great demand by
the Indians, and the Sioux Indians
probably consume more black and
red Pepper per capita than any other
people in the United States Their
former fayOrite condiment was the
gall OF an elk.
The Sioux Indians are responsible
for the reputation which nearly all
tribes have of eating dog meat but
there are few other tribes which ever
served dog meat, even at the feast
of important ceremonies. The Ch,,v-
enne5, Shoshones and Arapahoes n, ar
touch dog meat.