The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1906-10-24
tPoN rOMAHAWK TO CROSS
THOUSAND CHRISTIAN
lD' -,or-V SING AND PRAY.
Generations of Their Ances-
Indulged in the Cruelties
Of the Sun Dance.


,,ost sacred site in all the
- 70 the Sioux Indians, that spot
TO' tne santee reservation which was
Oh ancient site of the sun dance,
NV .o the young men proved their
WIZ VIZ 70 become fullfedged warriors
10 'ndu1ging in practices of the most
" no nature, has been turned into
chric+ian camp meeting ground,
an Omaha, Neb, dispatch.
, ~ once the young warriors, with
,so thrusts through their breasts,
lifts cut into the sinews of their
80 danced around the pole until
,or fell exhausted, today may be
,,ord the hymns and prayers and the
.ro,uiahs and sermons of an evan
.rstic gathering. Revival meetings
large scale are in progress there
and 10000 Sioux, who acknowledge
,,oltv to the Nebraska deanery of
tbo Episcopal church, have been TAX
mo mart. The scenes there witnessed
.ontrovert the theory that the only
nood indian is a dead Indian.
No Backsliders.
# is the largest number of Chris
.ion Indians ever gathered together
ot one place, and large delegations
oro present from each of the ten
tribes of the great Sioux Nation.
4 Among those present are warriors
whose names a quarter of a century
,oo brought terror to the frontier
cottprs. but who have since then for
saken the war path and the dog
feast, and have adopted the ways of
be white man and his religion.
1t is not generally known that 70
Der cent of the Sioux have adopted
christianity and are now as earnest
christians as they were once bar
barans But the Indian as a chris
tan is not just what white man
Is who lays claim to religion. For
Instance, there are no 'backsliders"
among the Indians so far as relig
ion is concerned. An Indian may
leave civilization and return to the
Blanket" state after he leaves
school, but he never forsakes chris
tianity, once he embraces it. And
while his religious code is never just
the same as a white mans, chris
tan Indian is a pretty safe PROPOSE
ton.
These 10000 Indians who are
camped around the Santee agency,
and all came from their own reserva-
tons in wagons and on horses.
A Strange Scene.
1t is a strange mixture of the new
and the old, this great Indian camp.
Ten thousand Indians, in $500 In
dian tepees are camped around
great circle several miles in circum-
4ClNLNC5 III IllC OCl1lCl vi w MN, JNtSS
where the sun dance pole was once
erected, now stands a large booth in
which has been built temporary al
tar, and instead of dancing around
the medicine on the top of the pole
the Indians now gather to pray to
the God of the white man.
Most of the sermons preached are
in the Sioux language and by Sioux
indian preachers. Whenever a white
man, who cannot speak Sioux,
breaches there are interpreters to
translate his words into the Indian
language
A perfect religious mania seems to
nave swept over the Sioux this year,
and the increase of christian In
dams has been phenomenal. Proba-
Oily 1855 per cent of the Sioux tribes
are now church members and the
tribes, at the annual convocat1ons,
contribute about $4,000 to the for
egn mission fund of the church
Converted BY White Cloud.
In the throng of Sioux who have
assembled at Santee the past ten
Jays are many who were converted
Oy White Cloud, the meanest Sioux
warrior who ever took scalp.
White Cloud was noted for his fierce
ana blood-thirsty nature and was one
OF the great war lords of the Dako-
I'd tribe. White Cloud and his band
aad a battle with Gen. Sydney dur
ing one Of their wars and many req
men We're killed. The others were
captured, taken to Davenport, Ia
ana tried. White Cloud was SEN
Sehced to death, but was pardoned
W resident Lincoln. With the rem
HaltS Of his band the old chief went
gack to the plains and settled along
C SIe Missouri river near what is now
Santee.
Alfred Riggs established a school
a. white Clouds camp, and as the
oule1 followers were poor as church
hlce they were sent to Riggs to learn
" fead-and to eat.
d IN time many of them became
CCII Itan and finally old White
loud was converted and Joined the
III I.l Although a man of proba--
1 10y 90 Years of age, White CLOUD
ls1Illed to read, entered theologl-
lol seminary studied for the minis |