Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1906-06-21

derskirts. are dainty and betray the
fact that she has never worn a mecca
sin since childhood.
Horrible Effects on Victims.
Among this solemn tribe OF WIZ
shippers there are scores of men and
women who have lost their sense Of
hearing. and who are almost blind
from using the drug. There are chit
dren who have been In the boarding
school,. as evidenced by their uniform
dresses or caps. All are to partake of
the mescal. and almost without excep-
ton all will be PROSTATE on the ground
within six or eight hours after the
meeting starts, their brains whirling.
their bodies trembling. writhing In
the loss of facilities, the retreating of
the blood from the hands and arms
until only a strong heart can keep the
warm stream flowing through the
veins. 1t is n sleep. which IS so near
TO his brother. Death. that hasty eN-
to pronounce the victim l~ifeless.
But the worshipers will arise at
dawn. Oh when The sun begins to beat
down or them. and with faces bleached
as white as ghosts, drag their out
ragged bodies to their huts to recover
from the horrible orgy. which may re-
quire several days.
6xnorter talks TO INDIANS.
While the Congregation" is as
sembling, an old man with hat off and
holding "A heavy cane. exhorts the wor-
shippers to be patient until the last
| one arrives. Then a solemn dirge Is
| sung to the beating OF tom-toms. Some
of the women bring the mescal juice
with them in jugs and bottles. But
| some of the tea is always made at the
meeting in large iron kettles.
All +t,o t;.,o ,.l;Io ,to .,o.., Il
is being brewed the worshipers are sing.
ing n the old redskm is exhortiag
them. His harangue is tiresome. l. is
Il call like the singing of the psalms in
a cultural tongue. Those who have
brought mescal tea with them sin it
while he harangue is going on ana
the public mess is being brewed.
Indians who speak the English OH the
| reservation. translate the words of the
exhorter and claim he is really calling
on the %worshipers to become better
men and ome
Thus the solemn ceremony proceeds.
| drinking all the while. by the time the
| first brew of mescal tea Is finished
many OF the old Indians who drink the
tea all day at their homes begin to drop
over on the ground. The herb begins
to affect them and they pull a blanket
over their heads and lie face downward
to dream. to see. perhaps. some face OF
IL friend of the messiah of their nation.
Describe Their God.
The orgy lasts until nearly every III.
dian is lying face downward or the
ground with "A blanket pulled over The
head. Only now and then is a buck
maddened by the drinking. Their. is
generally no rioting. 10 fighting. just
peace in the sleep of death.
These Indians have a conception OF
the face they expect to see after taking
the tea. Nearly every Indian has the
same description, and 1t has probably
been given them by a leader-or a
trader. The Jesus they expect to see
is described as tall of stature with
white skin. long dark hair. carrying a
club in one hand and a shield in the
other. His head is surmounted by a
crest of red feathers with a wreath of
green plums. His belt is of snake skins
and he wears a strip of black akin
about his shoulders. IN which spangies
glitter in the light of his radiance.
1t is such a superstition. about which
there is something both fascinating and
pathetic, that appeals to the CONNER
| cialism of the traders and they secure
the mescal buds for the W~innebagoes.
which are eating the life blood from the
tribe and destroying the Indians who
own 100, 900 acres OF the finest and most
fertile lands on which the sun has ever
| ShOna