The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-12-11
SIOUX INDIANS
 EATING TOO MUCH Gluttony is the Great Fault of
 the Race THEY DEVOUR MUCH MEAT Carloads of Canned Goods Consumed by the voracious Redskins-ef- forts to Change Habits-Po-
 tatoes Not Popular.
THEY DEVOUR MUCH MEAT

Chamberlain, S. Diff Thomas A. Edi- son referred to the American Indians when he said that people were eating themselves to death, he could find plenty of corroboration of his theory on the reservations. Overeating is doing more to bring about the extinction of the Sioux and Yankton Indians than race suicide, ire water and all the diseases which haunt the wigwam of the red man.
 The great tribe of Sioux Indians is dis appearing. The members, it is declared, are literally eating themselves to death on account of the plenty about them.
 With the new railroad being built through the White River valley the In- dians will be enabled to secure supplies with greater ease. They are likely to be- come greater feeders than they are now, and thus to hasten the time of their dis appearance from the reservations in South Dakota.
 If eorroborative evidence was not easily obtained, it would scarcely be accepted as true that in the course of night of feast ing, dancing and story telling the average Indian will consume from ten to fifteen DOuluS Ol lltdl, anu II ilt leo e'h ance of food and can make his own selec- ton of the parts to be eaten, he will swallow without inconvenience not less than twenty pounds of meat in a single night.
 Like Canned Meat.
 Carloads of canned meats are consumed by the overfed Sioux Indians, and some canned foods have become almost as sacred q dish with the red men as the fat dog stew of old, for which the Sioux tribe is famous. Among the varieties ot canned goods eaten to excess the oyster holds first place. A hungry Indian will eat half a dozen cans and drink the liquor.
 Besides the harm done by eating ex- cessive amounts of food the fact that it is not properly prepared makes it the more injurious. There is no variety or style about Sioux Indian cookery, no French methods, no necessity for titillat- ing appetites already overkeen A pot full of meat and water is put on the fire by the squaw and allowed to heat, but there is definite time for the meal to cook and no point in the cooking pro- cess when it is done. The dinner is ready whenever her lord comes in and grunts about being hungry.
 If the Indian is especially hungry he may begin the contents of the kettle | by the time the meat is fairly warm There is never any faultfinding about the way in which the food is prepared and whether it is half raw done to rags, no objection is made by the head of the l family.
 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 to 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 Uni ted States. Their former favorite condi- ment was the skill of an elk.
 The Sioux Indians are responsible for 1 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 cere- monies The Cheyennes, Shoshones and Arapahoes never touch dog meat
 The Remedy.
 i To remedy the gluttony of the Indians l and prevent them eating themselves to | death the Indian bureau is trying to make good housekeepers of the Indian girls. Ten l times much wheat Hour Is used by the l Sioux today as fifteen years ago. 1t is said by the agents that, where cereals | and wheat flour are used by the Indians, there is some hope of civilizing them and curing them of gluttony.
 At the scho<is among the first things in their course. the girls are taught to make bread. But these lessons have not l reached the wigwams on the reservations to any marked degree. The Indian cares little for wheat bread any way Cereals don't interest him. The reservations west of here are places at least where patent breakfast foods are not fashionable.
 Ten months in the year the Sioux ln- dian prefers meat and the average meal consists of coffee, meat. beans, dried fruits and corn syrup. The last dish is a great favorite with the Indians.
 At some time in the past the New Eng flanders traded beans for furs or wampunl, and since that day the navy bean has been q favorite dish with the red man. l They prefer 1t in soup, and as beans are sometimes dear and hard to secure twen- ty-tive or thirty miles from the railroad, the soup of the wigwam many times con ssts of "one bean and two soups"
 The potato has never had a high stand 1 ing with the Indian. A dish similar 10 1 chop suey may be found in almost any 1 Indian home. and a fair grade of Mex- can chili can be secured. but the delicate ! ly baked potato, so easily prepared in the ashes of a camp fire, is as little | known fo the Siollx Indian aS SaratOca