Omaha daily bee., 1910-04-21

fevered flesh. and after this their wounds
were dressed BIZ the medicine man. The
herbs used were OF such a healing quality
that the young braves generally recovered
within three OF four weeks. II during this
torture there was any cutlery Of pain on
the part OF the sufferer. he was released
and sent away In disgrace, thenceforth to
be known as a woman nan and made
20 DO the work Of woman. Such a mar
was never allowed to marry or hold prop
erty.
The medicine dance among the Sioux In
dams was known as the sun dance. In all
OF the indian dances there is practically no
variety IN the movement of the legs. The
feet are kept close together and the whole
weight rests upon the ball Of the foot. the
heels being free from the ground. There Is
a rising and falling OF the shoulders 10
the beating OF the tom-toms. This form OF
exercise II particularly trying on the mus
cles OF the calves OF the legs and while
an Indian can keep up the movement all
night and seem perfectly fresh IN the morn
ing a white man IS utterly exhausted at the
end OF half an hour Of this sort OF exer-
ton.
From the time when ''Davia danced be-
fore the Lord" dancing has been an i'm
portant part In religious o~bservances OF
every race and students Of customs even
trace the rising and kneelins for prayer
on the part OF Christians as an embryonic,
or perhaps more properly a decadent. form
or dancing. At any rate. the Indians had
mar forms Of religious dances. one OF the
mos: interesting being the green corn
dance Of the Florida Seminoies. In many
respects this dance seems to link the red
man with the Greeks and Romans Of 5000
years ago. when harvest time was eele-
brated with the dance TO Cerella, followed
by the orgies devoted to Venus.
One Of the most grewsome Of all Indian
ceremonies Is the scalp dance. now prae-
tica1ly unknown. Warriors returning with
their bloody trophies retired to a place near
the village ana stretched the skins from the
heads Of their victims around the edge OF
hoops. Willow poles ten OF twelve feet long
were then stripped and the hoops tied to
the ends OF these, after which the warriors
marched into the village, set their poles
upright in a circle and began their weird
hopping dance about the CORY trophies,
keeping time to the tom-toms. AS the dance
proceeded the warriors would grow wild
with the thought OF the battle and each man
in turn would narrate the story Of his COM
bat, all the time going through the most
extravagant antics.
Among the most curious customs Of the
Indians we're the begging dances" These
were really civilizations old-fashioned sur
prise parties. and the participants were two
tribes recently at war with each other. but
at peace when the dance took place. The
surprising tribe would swope down upon the
friendly village with every evidence of hos
tility. and the surprised tribe often was at
a loss to know the intention of the visitors
until they assembled IN the center of the
village and began their dance. Then the
unwilling hosts assembled around the per
formers who from time to time darted out
and embraced the onlookers. Each host so
embraced was in duty bound to bestow
upon upon the dancing visitor some pres
eht. These begging dances practically bank
rupted the host tribe. for 1t was a point OF
honor that the beggars should be royalty
rewarded.
During the dry season on the plains
which frequently extends over a period Of
eight months, social dances are much IN
vogue among the tribes. there sometimes
being as many as five a week. These
dances have been compared 70 our owr
favor germans The entertainments are
never formal. A youth win begin to pound
upon a tom-tom at dusk and the guests
begin 10 assemble at his tamily's teepe
The men drift in together by ones and
twos and take their seats at one end Of
the teepe and the women assemble in tn,
same manner. After all are assembled IN,
drum is struck by one Of the young bucks
and all the other dancing men. groupet
around the drum. begin to beat time Will
drum sticks about two feet long. Thel
one of the girls win rise and so over I,
the group OF men. taking one by the hand
They will go to the center OF the teepe an
begin to dance with their arms about eael
other, such as the white man does in hi
round dance. Finally they separate an
the girl chooses another man. and the ma
another girl. both OF the new dancers Join
ing each other in the center Of the teep
and continuing.
In the kissing dance the fun is In
creased because each girl has to kiss he
partner. White men who attend thes
dances are often selected to take part /
the kissing feature, and the only wa.
In which they can avoid paying the for
felt is to give the chooser something
usually a nickel. AS soon as It Is discoy
cred, however, that the victim Is willln
to pay for HIS release he Is chosen eac
time and a pocketfuli Of small coins
showered upon him.
ny EREDEEIo J. HAsKIN.