The Lexington intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1901-1949, 1906-03-24
NAyAJos LIKE TO GAMBLE.
Indians Are Great Gamblers; Their
Eelation to Horses and Dogs
Is Still Unexplained.

According to the Southern
Workman the Navajo is an invet-
crate gambler. Not only are there
the professionals who live entire
ly by the practice, but even the
small boys are gamesters and
adapt the pictorial Sunday school
cards to gaming purposes. Their
blankets illustrate gambling and
even their account of the creation
must have woven into it the story
of a game. Thus a serious and ap.
parently native vice of formidable
proportions at once confronts the
teacher and the missionary. The
question of the best way to over.
come it is still an open one. The
prohibition of its practice does not
60 to the root of the matter and all
our logic fails to convince the In
dian that he has not as great a
right to play for stakes as he has
to breathe.
A curious trait of the Navajo,
common, no doubt, to all Indians,
il his relation to his horses and
dogs. To our mind II is ineompre.
hensible. Every man maintains
many dogs and for what reason it
is difficult to discover. They are
ill-kept, starving, cowardly ca
mines which bear as little resem.
blance to our own intelligent, de.
voted dogs as can be imagined.
They are not for use, certainly not
for beauty, and apparently they
are no protection. | have never
heard any reasonable explanation
of the Indians having so many;
perhaps he considets that the
more he can maintain The more i'm
portant he Is, relates a writer.
Toward his horses his attitude
seems even more singular. They
are, of course, part of his wealth.
but from our point of view he
should have a favorite one among
them all, to which he should give
more care and devotion. From
small boyhood he draws horses in
the sands or on the rocks and as
early learns to ride and rope the
real animal. He spends most of
his time on horseback till he dies.
He celebrates his horse in his blan-
kets and learns also the most diff
ticult horsemanship, of which he is
very proud.
But apparently one animal is
the same as another to him. He
will ride n to death and select
its successor from the herd, to
break it by the most cruel method
or to starve it and beat it. Fear
seems the only element developed
in the beast. The bits used make
one shudder to look upon and in
buying a Navajo horse it is said
that one must expect to find scars
on the animal, indicating hat it
has been so severely handled in
the breaking that its spirit has
been broken.
have seen horses whipped till
the blood ran. This was done with
out anger, apparently, but indif
ferently, as If there yer no Other
way. Our own little Navajo ami
NAL, which had been gentled BY
careful treatment, was finally re
sold to its original owner. Tht
man was an intelligent person
who could speak English and wht
had considerable intercourse will
! the white man, but when | asket
: him earnestly to be good to tn
horse he had no more cOmprehen
sion than if | were talking San
scrit.
; AS | stood on the last mesa looE
ing back upon the hot, silent, beat
: tiful but Improbable stretches @
the Navajo land and down upo
! the gorgeous, painted deser.
" which seemed his rightful artist
background, | pondered earnestl
upon the future of my Naval
: friends. No race or family in thi
: age can live always to itself, an
some day to these people wi
come the inevitable collision wit
; the forces of the outside worl,
and we have to do with the gres
e question of preparing them for Il