The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1914-08-17

N { { 7 F O R
GREAT DANCE
FIVE THOUSAND CHEYENNE IN
DAMS ASSEMBLE NEAR WA
TONGA TO HOLD SACRED AR
ROW DANCE.

nv" CNNSEs
Watonga, Okla, Aug. 16-Five
thousand Cheyenne Indians are gath
cred near Watonga to hold their Sa
cred Arrow dance and ceremony. The
Cheyennes are the only tribe of In
dians that hold dance in honor of
the first arrow heads given to the
red man. The arrow tops, four in
number, which the Indians believe
were the first, are still preserved
and are guarded year by year by the
same family of Indians.
Legends of the tribe are handed
down from generation to generation,
myth upon myth becomes lost as the
time passes, but there is one that
forms a great part of the unwritten
literature of the Cheyennes and that
one is never forgotten, for it is the
story of the discovery of the bow
and arrow to the Indian.
The legend is that many years ago
the great tribes of the Sioux, Chey-
ennes and Arapahoes were all one
people, living in the frozen Hudson
Bay country. In place of weapons
the Indians used clubs and stones to
kill their game. The tribes heard
wonderful stories of land far to the
southwest that abounded with game.
Like the Spaniard of old the Indian
set out in their wanderings for the
search of the land OF the Cibolas
Year after year they travelled, Many
died from starvation and exposure
One day in the early spring they
reached a land where the hunting was
good and there they set up their
lodges of bark. One day an old wo-
man found a strange boy near the
river. His face and hair was unlike
that of the Indian boys but fair and
light She took the boy to her home
and brought him in as a member of
the tribe. They called him UtOes. In
his youth Utoes never played with
his dusky companions in their child
hood games. Often he would be gone
for days into the wilderness and al
ways return with a bundle of reeds.
The reeds he would spend days in
shaping and scraping.
Stories by the hunters from the
south excited Utoes and his adopted
people. A great animal had been seen
that carried a coat of fur that would
make a warm dress for them in the
winter. Utoes and party of ten set
out towards the south in search of
these strange animals. Bidding his
companions to wait for him the boy
set out alone towards the forest. Sc
lecting a straight rod about five feet
in length he cut and scraped it. He
then fitted a sinew to the bow. Four
arrow points were made from flint
rock and fitted to four reeds
Utoes found the first herd of buffa-
loes, for such this strange animal was,
grazing on the land near what is sup
posed to be the present site of Mason
City, Iowa. The four arrows were
quickly discharged into the herd and
with each arrow discharged buffalo
fell. The companions of Utoes be-
came worried for the boys safety and
set out in search of him. The only
trace ever found of the lad was the
bow and the four dead animals. In
the carcass of each animal was found
an arrow. Thus did the arrow first
become in use among the Indians.
The legend of Utoes has been told
around the fires of the old and young,
forming never forgotten history of
the first arrows. The Indian, like the
Aztec of Old Mexico, believes that
the God who gave them so much, will
return to their people in time of need
and lead their people to the Happy
Hunting Grounds.