Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1910-12-25
THE REDNAN' 5
CHRISTMAS DAY
FESTIVITIES RESEMBLE THE
Old sCRIPTURAL EVENTS.
have CEREMONIALS
Nearly All of Uncle Sans CopperN
Wards Understand Holidays
Meaning.

Christmas among Uncle Sans cop
pery wards Is the great day Of the
year IT is usually provided for
many moons in advance Among
some Of the Indians committee is
appointed a month before Christmas
TO gather contributions for tho cele-
bration OF the day, while others pre-
pare for It by making moocasins,
toys and other things for the chill
dren, very much the same as We do.
The pretty fancy OF the Christmas
tree, brought TO their notice 10y the
white people, quickly caught their
attention, and today the tree forms
the center OF nearly all the Indians
celebration OF Christmas
The Instructive taste for the cero,
monial and the strong strain Of sem
timent running through the. indian
nature readily absorbs any idea Of
this kind Most OF the tribes have
memorial festivals at which they
offer gifts 10 their delties Among
several OF the TRIBES the ancient sun
dance has been preserved with the
exception Of the sacrifice The Mokis
have bean dance in February when
the Katchlnas, the eccentric sprites
that most nearly approach our Santa
Claus, give presents to the children
Of bows and arrows and moccasins. a.
The notion of Teasing and conviVlal-
tty is the first one associated with
any holiday In the minds OF most
Indians, In whose primitive ideals OF
happiness the full stomach takes an
important part. Among the Pimas
Christmas, New Years Easter and
THANKSGIVING are all grouped under
the broad term OF "eating days" The
Shoshones call Christmas the "bis
eating day" At the celebration
which was first introduced at Lemhi,
Idaho many OF the Indians were
questioned to see if they really un.
derstood what the day meant Most
of them professed utter ignorance,
but one old blind man assured the
teacher he knew, and explained:
"Christmas all same Fourth Of
July; white man get heap drunk
There Is a legend or tradition
among the Chippewaa closely resem-
bling the story of Noah's ark men
toned In the Scriptures. The deity
OF tho Chippewas Is called Mama
push, and the story runs that he built
q medicine lodge among them way
back IN the beginning Of things, and
alongside this lodge he erected a
little tent, Standing in front Of this
little tent, he beat drum for seven
days, calling In a loud voice for all
the people 10 come and enter the
lodge to keep from drowning. Al
great many people entered the lodge,
and when all were inside Mama push
sealed the door tight with moss. No
sooner was this done than Il com
menced TO rain, which continued for
two fun moons-about forty days
and all living things were drowned
except those who We're called into the
lodge, After II had stopped raining
and the water had subsidized, the story
runs, Mama push selected eight men
who were to act az life medicine men
for the tribe thereafter
The Laguna Indians Of New Mexico
have several curious ceremonials
which take place Mt Christmas. They
seem mixture OF the native religion
and OF the early Spanish missionaries.
Among these Indians the older men
get busy few days before Christmas
making small clay figures represent
ing sheep, goats horses, cattle, cats,
dogs and vegetables, which they take
into the church a little past mid
night on Christmas.