The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1915-10-21

ASSEMBLE FOR
CORN DANCE
RED MEN HAVE STRANGE LEGEND
CONCERNING ORIGIN OF GRAIN.
HOLD TWI CEREMONIES EVERY
YEAR TO HONOR CORN.

Watonga. Okla, oct. 2O.-The Chey-
enne Indians here are holding their
yearly dance of the dried corn" For
several days they have been gathering
short distance south Of Watonga, pre-
pairing the camp for this dance.
The Cheyennes hold two ceremonies
every year in honor Of the corn, which
they believe to be the direct gift of
the Great Spirit to the Indians. The
first dance or ceremony is held in the
early summer after the corn has reach
ed a height of about two feet. They
then ask the Great Spirit for rain that
the corn may ripen and that the yield
may be great so that all of the Indians
will have plenty,
The ceremony that is being held at
the present time is to give thanks for
the abundant crop with which the
country is blessed. The dance is one
of great interest and the Indians enter
it with light hearts They are joyous
in spirit and a very grateful class of
people, therefore they give themselves
entirely up to the pleasures of the
dance. The camp bears evidence TO
the heavy yield of corn, for in nearly
every tepee the ears of corn are sus-
pended.
The corn legend is one of the most
interesting ones that has been handed
down through the long line of legend
bearers. Generation after generation
has told the story of how the Indians
came in possession of the grain. The
first Indians who raised corn We're the
Omahas living in the valley of the
Missouri river. The various tribes,
who borrowed the seed from the Oma-
has, retain the legendary history of its
discovery as part Of their own un-
written literature.
The Legend.
The legend, as told by a Cheyenne
Indian, follows:
"Once, many moons ago, my people
were rapidly perishing from the earth
because a great famine had spread ov-
er them. The buffaloes had passed on
to long distance toward the sunset
and the deep SHOWS of the mountains
would not permit my people to pass
through to find the herds and secure
food for the starving people of the
camp. When the winter had passed
and those who had passed the great
famine in safety set out in search of
the buffalos, they decided to visit the
Omahas After arriving at the village
of their friends, the Cheyennes were
told that a feast would be given in
their honor and that the Omahas had
a food that could be made to grow
like the flowers of the woods; that
when ripe could be gathered like the
nuts and fruits of the forest. The
Cheyennes did not at first belieye that
such a food could be grown.
Within the tepees of the Omahas
great heaps of this food were kept un-
til the women found time to grind it
between stones. The Cheyennes
begged for seed of the corn that they
might not again suffer for food in win
ter when the buffaloes would leave
the plains. The Omahas gave their
friends the seed and told them how to
care for the plant that it might bear
well.
Before departing to their own vii
,age, the Cheyennes asked the Omahas
where they obtained this wonderful
food, and this is the legend that was
told to my people:
What the Omahas Said.
"'Once we, the Omahas, were beset
by the great famine and many of our
people died like our brothers did dur
ing the long winter just past. We were
starving and the little children cried
'oud for food, but we did not have any
to hush their cries. The buffaloes had
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