The Washington herald., 1907-11-24
EOw Red Man Remembers
Great Spirits Bounty.
PONY.SMOKE AND BEEF ISSUE
Former Ceremony shows the Good,
Latter Orgy the had side of the
AbOriEine's Nature-Indian schools
substituting PaIe-fnce Methods.
First Thanksgiving Feast.

IN college towns where great FOOTBALL
games are scheduled 70 occur. Especially
Is this true in the Southwest, where the
Indians have had an opportunity TO be-
come thoroughly civilized Of late years.
The white people find no more enjoy
ment In this day Of universal cheer than
do these same dusky redskins.
Il - d day of feastiEg, playing and
gaming. with bIg dance at night. Such
sport only comes once a year TO them
| nowadays. when they have had to for
sake the scalping knife for the pIow.
Their wild nature revolted at the Idea
OF work. and it has been with much DIFF
ficulty that the government agents have
made farmers out OF the young braves.
A day OF rest and amusement is consid-
cred good for their better nature, and the
government authorities are willing that
Z Thanksgiving Day shall become a fes-
tai time for the reservation wards of the
nation
| The Kiowas and Comanches, who not
long ago We're placed on allotments. viii
| have forsaken many OF their Wild plans
of amusement this Thanksgiving, owing
TO the fact that they have been cut or
/ the free list OF beef issues. They nave
/ arranged to draw grass money on Th anks-
giving, and a goodly portion of this will
/ be spent in purchasing food for a grand
feast. At night they will take part in
| "a green-Corn dance az which prayers
/ will be offered TO the Great Spirit for the
/ good crops which they have had the past
! season The spirit Of thankfUlness per
vades the Indian celebrations.
oSages Run 10 GRStrOnOmy-
The Osages hold a big feast AT Paw
| huska, their capital city. All members Of
the tribe are invited 10 take part in the
festivities. At the beginning and end
| Of each meal-and there are many-the
| aged missionary who lives among them
Is invited 10 deliver a short prayer thank
/ ing the Great Spirit for the good things
which the agent has sent them. The
/ food is cooked by the sQuaws. and while
/ il could be prepared in a much cleaner
and more tasteful manner. the cooking
is an improvement over that OF few
/ years ago.
/ The Apaches and Cheyennes are IN the
| habit Of holding pony-snOke. often the
/ Osages indulge in this expensive festival
/ a pony-smoke is "A friendly meeting of
two tribes and is especially appropriate
| Tor the occasion The tribe giving the
I smoke is supposed 10 bear al the eX-
| penses. They provide the best game an6
vegetables in the market for their guests
/ and al the end OF the first days meeting
they present n good pony 10 the head OF
each family visiting them As tribe
I consists OF from 800 10 800 families. the
! expenses soon mount high. The Osages.
! being the richest reservation Indians
/ there are to-day. can better afford 70
hold pony-smokes. and combined with
their ss@st-day. they generally invite
| several hundred guests from the Poncas
| Tonkawas. and surrounding tribes Those
accepting the ponies are supposed to re-
turn the gift with equally expensive ones
later on. but few oG them are IN a position
so 10 do.
PGncas Are Bcef-caters.
The Poncas hold every THANKSGIVING
as a beef-issue day II the agent does
not come forward and present to them a
herd OF cattle Tor this occasion they
mortgage their property and buy cattle
Of some neighboring ranchman. A beef
issue is the most typical and also the
most picturesque Of Indian Thanksgiving
| celebrations. For years the government
l has forbidden the issue OF beef. after the
manner Of an old-time issue but on
especial occasions they are allowed the
| amusement OF killing their own meat
| 1t is said by the government officers who
succeeded in having the practice stopped
1 that beef issues tend to make the Indian
/ wilder and more difficult 10 civilize
hundred cattle are turned loose IN a
large pasture. The young men of the
! tribe are mounted on mustangs and have
/ shining guns. With the good wishes Of
q l.
their ears they ride out 10 kill the cattle
The beasts have no chance for life what
ever. The chase is accompanied by an
undue amount OF wild yelling, while ex-
citement grows intense in the camp. The
! smell Of the fresh blood makes the
| SQuaws wild, as 10 were. After all the
cattle have been shot down, then the
killers give a signal. which means that
all the tribe are at liberty to rush forth
and secure their portion. A half beef is
. awarded 20 each squaw. The beef is
cleaned and cooked on a fire on the open
plain. while the medicine men dance their
/ approval and the warriors sing in their
glee. The feast follows. with more dane
ing. and the whole day is thus spent.
ending late at night with final gorge
More Civilized at ChiIOccO.
But while this ceremony Is going on
among the Poncas, ten miles north Of
their reservation are the Chilocco Indian
schools, where an entirely different pro-
gramme is carried out The Chilocco
schools form the largest government edu-
cationaI institution in the Southwest.
some 600 young Indians attending All
tribes are allowed there. Every branch
of study. 10 say nothing of the industrial
training department, is taught Thanks
giving is a day of much interest to these
students Those who have parents are
allowed a visit from them on that day.
For several days prior to Thanksgiving
the trails leading 10 Chilocco are lined
with wagons loaded with Indians They
camp on the Chilocco reservation. The
! students are allowed TO go into camp
with their parents. but cannot spend
the night with them, for fear OF evil ef-
fects. on Thanksgiving morning the stu
dents are brought into the chapel. where
they recite and play musical instruments
TO the pride of their instructors and
an azement OF their parents. who are
guests OF honor on that occasion. In the
| afternoon the Chilocco football team con-
tests with a team from some nearby
/ town, while the girls play basket-b ball
/ with their paleface sisters. None OF the
wild sports OF the old sava ges. who are
seated around the circle as spectators.
are allowed. The parents see the glad
faces Of their children, neat-appearing
boys and girls. and they hear strange
words. but after all il seems for the best.
| For are not their children happy amid
all these surroundings. where they are
being advanced In the ways Of the white
people? It certainly has a good effect
on the old people OF these tribes. The
I Thanksgiving Day exercises at ChiloccO
/ have been duplicated by a number Of