The Washington herald., 1913-11-16
government STOPS SUN DANCE
PRACTICED BY indian TRIBES

eagles. TO accompany the songs OF mu-
sicians seated about a large drum at
the entrance OF the lodge. The whis-
Ting Is symbolic OF the breath of life.
and is further supposed to represent
the cry OF the thunderbird.
Within recent years the tortures in
cidental 10 the sun dance have been
practically eliminated by restrictions
enforced by government agents But
the bodies Of many old warriors still
bear scars attributable to them. The
last instance OF severe torture among
the Southern Cheyennes occurred more
than twenty years ago. in sight of the
agency buildings at Darlington.
An Indian fastened in the flesh Of his>l
breast the ends OF two rawhide thongs
that hung from the top of the sacred
pole. Knives were thrust through the
flesh Of his back and hips in four
places. and shorter thongs were passed
through the cuts and securely tied in.
the flesh. At the end Of each OF thess'
thongs was buffalo skull that
dragged on the ground.
The warriors purpose was to dance
until the thongs were literally torn
from his breast, and then to caper
about until the other thongs were
terked loose from his bleeding back
and hips. Fortunately. an army ofi-I
Ger was a witness of the spectacle. and
notified the Indian agent. who COM
pelled the dancer to desist-
Dances n Shocking sight. !
Such performances were a shocking
sight when unrestrained- Sometimes the
dancer died before he could release him
self His family and kinsmen, frantic
with religious enthusiasm, stood round
him, chanting and uring him to beart
his sufferings bravely, while the dancer
struggled and staggered in the anguish
Of the ordeal
From the first the missionaries had
IT In for the sun dance. and their in
fiuence has had much to do with the pro-
hibition Of this remarkable ceremonial a
1t was not merely that they disapproved
OF the tortures: they thought the per-
formance too outrageously heathenish
and calculated to retard the progress OF
Christianity among the plains tribes.
The greatest sun dance OF recent years
occurred in the summer of 1902, when the ,
whole tribe of Southern Cheyennes, with
visiting Sioux, Southern Utes, Osages
Pawnees. Arapahoes, and Kiowas, in all
more than 1000 Indians, came pouring
into the valley OF the North Canadian
River, covering the green plain with their
tepees- The place chosen for the per-
formance was about two miles from
Calumet, Okla. and the time was the
week Of the Fourth Of July. Even the
Red Moon band of Cheyennes, from the
Upper Washita. close to the Panhandle
of Texas, whittier they had gone to be
as far as possible from the white men.
were there.
II should be explained that the medi-
cine lodge and altar are neither removed
nor destroyed at the end Of the cere-
mony To disturb them in any way
would be deemed a sacrilege. and accord
ingly they are abandoned to the ele-
ments.
Within recent years the sun dance
among the Cheyennes has been supple
mented, by the mescaI dance In this
ceremonial the dancers eat the button
like hearts OF a species Of cactus that
grows in the deserts OF the Southwest.
and which Is known To botanists as
AnhaIonium lewinii- II occurs plentifully
in the Valley OF the Rio Grande. When
the buttons are chewed. they induce a
kind OF intoxication similar to that OF
hasheesh. with visions which make a
strong appeal to the aboriginal sense of
the supernatural. Thus the mescal dance ,
is sort OF orgie, In which the perform
ers indulge in all manner Of extrava-
gances. II has been positively forbidden
by the government authorities, and con-.
sequently Is practiced only in secret.
Mooney Makes Experiments.
Mr.. James Mooney. of the government
Bureau of Ethnology, collected some OF
these cactus buttons q while ago. and a
young chemist in Washington was per
suaded to experiment on himself with
them He recorded his subsequent i'm
pressions with much carefulness and
accuracy. Just before going to bed he
swallowed three of the buttons The
first effect was a very unpleasant nausea.
but this soon passed. Thereupon a train
Of delightful visions presented them
selves, his mind remaining clear and ac-
tive meanwhile, so that he was able to
make notes of his impressions He
watched with delight an ever-changing
panorama Of infinite beauty and grandeur
which passed before him, with constant
changes of color and form. BY concen-
trating his thoughts on various subjects
he found that he could con-
troll the character of the visions to
extent. He even tried to
fix his attention upon ideas which should
give rise to unpleasant visions; and there
upon appeared nyriads of crawling mon
sters with human faces
These latter visions were Of a charac-
ter so horrible as to frighten anybody
under normal conditions but under the
Influence of the cactus they were delight
full and amusing. At about 4 a. m. the
eHecls began TO pass OIL A point very
noticeable was the absence Of distressing
reaction such as follows the use of opium
or hasheesh. Similar experiments made
with other persons showed that the
beauty and variety OF the visions were
greatly augmented and enhanced by the
sound of monotonous drumming, such as
Is kept up by the Cheyennes during the
whole progress of the mescal dance.
Chemical analysis of the cactus but.
tons has shown that they contain pow
erful aIkaloid. entirely new to science.
which. when purified. takes the form of
crystals II may yet prove
q valuable addition to the pharmaco-
peia for the cure of some ailments In
fact, an alcoholic extract of the buttons
has already been found most useful In
the treatment of nervousness. insomnia.
and the depressing after-effects of alco-
hoIic indulgence RENE BACHE.
Futurist SchOoII'oy.
ENr,n, h. York World