Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-08-08
BACKGROUND OF EVENTS
BY PAUL Y. COLLINS.

! valuable forests. all Of which were the
sole and exclusive property of plaintiffs
That defendant, notwithstanding
its solemn obligation to restrain its
nationals from going on plaintiffs
lands, permitted white citizens of de-
PENDANT to go in and upon plaintiffs
lands and take possession thereof, and
misappropriate the same and exclude
| plaintiffs therefrom"
| The complaint further details how
! the Government itself invaded the
lands with it's armed forces, intimidated
| the plaintiffs and drove them from
large areas, ETC."
| And the. value of the gold lands
| BLACK Hills as shown by the gold,
etc, that have since been extracted
| therefrom. amounts to $685. 200, 900.
more or less, which remains yet to be
collected.
| In the treaty of 1889, the Govern
ment agreed to supply school for every
80 Indian children in the Dakotas.
There were 5000 such children, and
only one or two schools were ever built
and operated, so the Government is
short about 800 schools with 800
teachers, plus fuel and requirements
as required for 40 years, as agreed;
!
/ These are some of the items that 90
to make up the interesting total of
three-quarters of billion dollars tina
the United States stands accused of de-
faulting to the poor Indians. There
are no good white men but dead ones!
Yet people wonder why the Govern
ment, through its Indian Bureau. per-
sists in "pampering" the Indians.
So, the ''savages" got together, rode
their ponies bareback. yelled their
war whoops in imitation of their fore
fathers, and made whoopee as of old
At the Indian Bureau. it is understood
that the meeting was unofficial and
accomplished nothing.
X
There has been much said about the
necessity of forbidding the native
dances Of the Indians-the war dance
snake dance, etc. Critics denounce them
as degrading and damaging to the
civilizing spirit. Perhaps there is some
foundation for the criticisms, since the
: frenzy of the dances often ends In
temporary insanity and in fainting or
| trancelike coma. In that respect, they
recall many white mems maniacal
dances of old, usually under the guise
| Of some new religious movement.
! TRANSACTIONS of the Indian chants
! show nothing more harmful than the
songs which Europeans sang while
they (both Indian and European en-
thusiasts) sang themselves into an
ecstasy. and coma. For example. here
| is ghost dance song used by the
Arapahoes:
Father, have pity on me.
Father. have pity on me:
I am crying for thirst,
I am crying for thirst;
| All Is gone--I have nothing to eat,
All is gone-I have nothing to eat"
Another Indian song, commonly
used, Is as follows:
my children, my children.
| 1t Is who make the thunder as cir
The thunder as I circle about.
My children, my children,
] 1t is who make the thunder as I circle
! about
| The loud thunder as circle about"
What is there so "demoralizing" in
these childlike ditties, even If their
singing is so seriously taken as to lead
| to conditions similar to those of Euro
| pean fanatics" of olden times?
Joan of Arc led France through her
visions and voices"
In the fourteenth century, through
out Germany, the Netherlands and
!; France, there was an epidemic of
dancing mania. in which thousands of
men and women danced through streets
4 and highways, hand In hand, singing
doggerel, until they fell in commissions.
The clergy at last stopped the mania
by guiding the line of dancers into st.
Vitus' Church. where they danced about
the altar, whereby they were cured
That is the origin OF the name OF the
nervous disease known today as st. vi.
tus dance.
4 Then there were the aFiagellants.' 7