Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1914-01-07

~ No outsider is ever permitted to
witness these and their charac-
ter can only be surmised from the
dances that take place in the plazas
DR.. Herbert j. Spinden, of the Ameri-
can Museum Of Natural History, has
recently returned from four months
sojOurn among the Pueblo Indians OF
the Upper Rio Grande. He was espe-
cially interested in the Tewa Indians,
as his studies on this trip were almost
wholly chronological and the rich myth
ology of the Tewas offered him a mine
Of material.
Not All War Dances.
Most persons think of those dances
of the Indians WHICH were really war
dances as being the only ones which
were practised, said Dr. Spinden. AS
matter of fact there are numerous
dances, extremely interesting and very
old, in which women as well as men
participate and which have nothing to
do with warfare. Few of these are
wholly social, although some of them
have that element. Practically all of
them have religious origin and to-
day retain a religious significance
The Tewas are a simple, agricul-
less the Oldest of any in the United
States.
When the Spanish came they con-
verted the Indians to the Roman Cath
olic religion, and nominally these In
dams are still Catholics"
But while many of the Tewas re-
tain many of the beliefs and ceremo-
MES of the Catholic religion, they COM
bine with them many of the myths
and observances of the religion that
antedated their acceptance of the
Christian. 1t was because of the early
opposition of the Catholic priests to
this adherence to the old rites and Gus
toms that the people sought secret
places under ground in which to prac-
tice them. And, although the neces-
sity for the secrecy has passed, they
still hold these secret meetings, have
dances that no white man has ever
seen and keep up other traditions with
constancy and seclusion incompre-
hensible to men of a different race
Some white men say they have pen
etrated to these underground lodges
and have seen what was done there,
but DR.. Spinden does not believe that
they have ever been present at the
carefully guarded ceremonies The
most that they have done is to see the
vacant room or perhaps some dance of
no great significance. So cautious are
they that when there is to be one of
these important conclaves at one of
the villages an Indian is sent with a
roll of cloth to cover the windows and
doors Of the house in which the teach
er, who is much loved and respected
lives in order that she may not see
anything that goes on. OF course she
is not permitted to go out of the house.
Formerly some one was left on guard.
but they trust her now sufficiently to
content themselves with fastening UP
her house. Any stranger who was in
the neighborhood would be jealousy
watched lest he should get any inkling
OF what went on In the underground
room,
Wear Masks.
These lodges always contain an al
tar. and although most of them seem
10 have no connection with the out
side world except the obscure en-
trance. they have splendid system of
ventilation. The participants in these
underground dances are always
masked.
While the American (whom they call
the red neck, not the white man, by
the way may not penetrate to the un-
foreground chambers and witness the
most sacred dances, he may see in the
plaza dances of great variety and in
crest, deeply significant. each one a