Post by mdenney on Mar 25, 2007 0:38:23 GMT -5
From this beautiful prospect we turned to the woods & scrambled through underbrush & thickets, over logs & through swamps in hopes that we soon might find the crystals sheet we had imagined, but the only reward we received was the sight of a small lake surrounded by a swamp which we were obliged to wade, tormented by the hosts of musqitos gnats & flies who guards this sylvan retreat. The heat was also excessive, & as we pushed our tortuous way towards our canoe again we were glad enough to prostrate ourselves on the wet earth & with hands & mouth, strive to imbibe a few mouthfuls from a delicous spring which we discovered in a thickly wooded ravine. The water was clear as crystal & cold & [ as ] ice but the musqutos which seem to have congregated at our approach, permitted us not to enjoy this slight luxury in quiet but compelled us to push on to the river we found our canoe safe. We reach'd the camp in safety, the wind & current greatly assisting our progress. Sunburnt faces & arms, empty stomachs & wet extremities, (for our canoe afforded a “sitz[”] bath to its occupants,) & our wearied limbs bore evidence of our toil in discovering a lake which our companions now informed us did not exist, but having discovered one which they knew not of, the hoaxers were hoaxed & the laugh was mutual. 18
18 Goodhue, in the Pioneer for July 24, gives the following account of the search for the nonexistent lake: “Several young men of our camp started off in the morning, across the river, to see Cedar Lake, a handsome sheet, in the midst of a dark forest, distant, it is said, about five or six or seven, or it may be eight miles, or perhaps leagues, from the Traverse. They returned without seeing Cedar Lake, not knowing where to look for it but thinking, neverthelss, that they could come so near it, that the artist in their company, who draws every thing, from the cork of a porter bottle to a queer conclusion, would be able to draw it, but he did not. The fact is, like a Mackinaw boat, he draws but very little water; but when it comes to drawing rations, we or dry, our painter is ‘ thar! ‘” 199 188
As yesterday the Indians performed a sham-fight on foot, to day a somewhat similar manuevre, was executed on horse-back. All the upper band of Sissetons, mounted their horses, being in full dress with the exception of their heads, which were nearly concealed by branches which they carried in their hands, & with which they were bedecked in different ways, mostly, sashwise. They thus presented much the appearanced accorded to McDuffs army when “Birnam wood did come to Dunsinane”. This long cavalcade then proceeded to the various encampments discharging their guns as they passed, which were quickly answered by the others as the cavalry swept swiftly by, allowing no time for a ceremony which is sometimes practised, but which on this occasion was not agreeable to the horsemen. If an Indian of the encampment succeeds in including a horseman to dismount & engage in a sham fight & the footman performing the maneuvre of scalping is successful, his opponent presents him his horse. The custom is a complimentary one usual with friendly tribes or bands of the same tribe. Having passed the encampments 200 189of the different bands the[y]drew up before the commissioner's tents where they passed in review & were presented with a gift of tobacco & biscuit which was divided among them by their chief men. As they sped homeward in scattering parties, racing their horses over the prarie, up & down its gentle undulations, at one moment almost lost to view & the next emerging in distinct profile on the horizon, then sweeping off into the distance until lost among their teepees, they presented objects of picturesque interest, the vast extent of green prarie varied by their long shadows projected by the setting sun.
No situation is so well adapted for the view of a fine sunset as one of these praries, with its distinct & unobstructed horizon. The large & “quiet” mass of green sward serving as a foil to display the brilliant & various colours of the sunset to great advantage. The great clearness of the atmosphere adds very much to the beauty of the scence [scene], the delicate gradations of color & effect are distinctly visible. 19
19 Mayer drew a line through all but the first sentence of this paragraph.
201 190
XI Sioux Gods and Men
The Dacotah have a god whom they call Ha-o-kah, or the contrary god. 1 They suppose him to be a little old man with a short body & very long legs, who goes naked during the winter, suffering intensely from heat, while in summer he is warmly clothed to exclude the cold by which he is chilled. Any one under his influence acts in direct opposition to the usual deportment of sane persons. If desired to go, he stays, to sleep he keeps awake, to laugh he cries, he speaks by contraries. One under his influence the other day, said, “how dry the river is there is no water in the channel. I never saw it so low.” The river was then higher than it has been for years. Two brothers under his influence entered 1 The word “Ha-o-kah” is written in pencil, and apparently is not in Mayer's handwriting. “The nature of the Heyoka is not simply supernatural, it is the opposite of nature,” writes Gideon H. Pond in an account of “Dakota Gods,” in Minnesota Historical Collections, 2: 232. According to this writer the Sioux gods included four varieties of Heyoka. “They feel perfect assurance when beset with dangers, and quake terror when safe. With them falsehood and truth are reversed; good is their evil and evil their good.” 202 191 the camp attired very much after the manner of heralds with short buffalo-hide cloaks painted with different devices, as birds, stars, diamond patterns &c, & a long string of feathers pendant from their heads. They walked or danced in a polka-like step arm in arm their bow & arrows in one hand & in the other they carried rattles which kept time to a perpetual song or chaunt which they sang. Dancing thro' the teepees they were told not to go to the Governor's Camp, when they immediately turned round & went there[,] a result which was desired by the commissioners who wished to see them. A heavy shower did not seem to disconcert them in the least. [In entering a house they backed in & out.] 2
2 The sentence inclosed in brackets is written in pencil on a lefthand page facing page 2 of diary E. Some sketches of the “Haokah dancers” appear in Mayer's Sketchbooks, 42:83, 84.
The Dacotah religion is Pantheistic. 3 They indue every object with a spiritual existence or mysterious power. They pray to every object in nature which they wish to appease or supplicate, if asked what they pray chiefly too, they say to stones, for there are more of them almost any other object they know. [Every person generally selecting some particular object which is his “patron saint” as it were—or “medicine”. If possible he procures the object & having preserved it in an ornamental bag, 3 A general account of the “religion and worship” of the Sioux is presented by Pond, in Minnesota Historical Collection, 12: 401-409. 203 192 pouch, or vessell, he keeps it with care near him, & when he dies it is buried with him.] 4
4 The passage inclosed in brackets is written at the foot of a lefthand page facing page 2 of diary E.
Beside these they have several invisible deities who possess great power. These are the Spirit of water, whom [sic] they say, is a “big fish” or “sea monster”, the spirit of lightning & who is a man, with small body long arms & large wings & clothed in red who flies thro the air & his rapid motion & bright garments causes the appearance of lightning.
[Neptune
“Oonc-ta-hee,” i,e, one who is dreadful—he is supposed to be a sea-monster of dreadful appearance Wahkahende—[ blank in MS. ] The thunder which is a favorite mystery is said to be caused by one or some say, two great-birds, called “Wahkeah” whose flapping or voice as they fly thro' the air causes the sound of the thunder. 5
5 According to Gideon Pond, the Sioux gods included two “Onktehi,” which in external form resembled huge oxen. “The dwelling place of the male is in the water, and the spirit of the female animates the earth.” It is therefore the male that Mayer described as the Neptune of the Sioux. The Indians believed that the missionary Hopkins was drowned because he had offended this god. Pond asserts that the Dakota mythology included four “Wakinyan” or flyers—great birds that cause the thunder. Minnesota Historical Collections, 2: 219-222, 228.
“Some think these deities to be solitary, others that there are races of them. The Thunder birds & the spirit of the water, who is the “medicine god” & burrows under ground are always at war—& the lighting 204 193striking to the earth is when the air-deity strikes the earth & water monster. The bones of the mammoth which are sometimes found on the praries, they think are the conquered deities' remains & preserve them a “Wahkon”. 6 The Oonctahee has a long tail with which he sometimes catches the thunder birds & drags them to the ground. Their contentions cause the storms.] 7
6 The Sioux “had seen bones of the mammoth, pieces of which they had in their possession,” according to Samuel Pond. They thought that these were the bones of a huge buffalo or ox, and since it exceeded other animals in size, it was “adopted as their chief god.” Minnesota Historical Collections, 12:403. 7 The caption and the two paragraph inclosed in brackets are written on a left-hand page facing page 3 of diary E. The first word, or heading, and the second paragraph are written in pencil.
Then there is Withokah the “fool-maker” or the god who makes the game foolish that the Dacotah may the more easily capture them. He is frequent[l]y prayed to. The sun & moon are also deities & there is a spirit of the earth & fire & the four winds. The god of war is however chiefly worshipped. The idea of the “great-spirit” is probably derived from the whites.
[Pallas
We-an-no-pa-pee, (two women,) preside over ornamental work &c & one skilful in such things has dreamed of or is inspired by Weannopapee. Tah-koo-shka-shka-shka (he who stirs) animates their weapons & is the god of motion. His disposition is peevish & he is easily displeased—he is therefore 205 194treated with peculiar reverence. Their armor-feast is made to this god and are frequent. He also resides in boulders, & presides at the hot bath. The medicine men in some instances are under his influence. 8
8 Most of the Sioux gods mentioned by Mayer are described also by Pond, in Minnesota Historical Collections, 2: 219-255.
Their form of prayer is destitute of the usual appearance of reverence. As they proceed to the hunt, anything which is considered by them as a deity is offered the pipe & trinket, feather or piece of tobacco or food is placed before it to secure it's good will & assistance. Their game is often a deity & if the opportunity permits, a prayer the burthen of which is that it may permit itself to be killed, is pronounced, the pipe & some sacrifice is offered to it & then it is slain. They speak of & address their gods as familia[r] acquaintances & look upon [them] rather as beings to be appeased than beloved.
After death they suppose their spirits to be rewarded or punished according to their behaviour in this world. After the soul leaves the body it journeys over, (some say an iron) road far to the south at last it reaches a wide lake or river, where the only crossing is by a long pole laid across it at the apposite end of which a goddess stands. The Sioux tattoo their bodies with various figures & these are their passports to the region of happiness beyound the river. 9 If they have been good men & can show 9 Mayer seems to have confused the use of paint by the Sioux with the practice of tattooing, which was unknown by this tribe. It is unlikely that any of the motifs with which they decorated their bodies were looked upon as “passports to the region of happiness.” Miss Frances Densmore to the editor, October 9, 1931. 206 195 these marks, they are permitted to pass. If not the goddess shakes the poles & they fall into the water. Little children who have not been tattooed show the veins on their hands & feet. Beyound the river are fine hunting grounds & the perfection of all the pleasures which they enjoyed in this life. They suppose this region to be some place on Earth, far to the South. The milky-way is called the road of spirits.] 10
10 The caption and the three paragraphs inclosed in brackets are written in pencil on three left-hand pages facing pages 4, 5, and 6 of diary E.
An Indian stood before the commissioners clad with the most ragged garments, his hair dishevelled & his face blackened & wearing an expression of grief & fatigue. His daughter with three others had been murdered & scalped by some hostile war-party 11 —& he had just arrived from the scene of slaughter, his heart was sore, he said, & he could not rest until he had told his father, (the commissioner). They had been set upon by some ten men as they were travelling in a hitherto safe country & fired upon from an ambush. They at first ran & seeing no chance of escaping they returned & instant[l]y the tomahawk cleft their skulls. The wretches mutilated their bodies & escaped with the scalps. A boy, the only male with them, was closely pursued by them but 11 Goodhue, in the Pioneer for July 24, also mentions the arrival of the bereaved father, who he says was a Sisseton. 207 196 escaped by his speed & brought the news to the father who immediately set out on horseback with a fellow Sioux & found the bodies, which they collected together, threw a blanket over them & left them to the next comers, who were hourly expected, by bury them. He presented a picture of a downstricken man as he sat on the ground, his head resting between his hands & his face half concealed by long black locks of disheveled hair, Grieved, starving & fatigued.
As I stood on the highest point of the prarie I observed at the farthest teepees two objects, apparently bipeds with enormous heads, dodgeing about & “progressing” thro' the villages, their nearer approach & constant motion evinced by the more distinct tinkling of the bells suspended about their persons. Viewed nearer, they were Indians with the skins of the head of the buffalo with the horns attached, placed upon their shoulders & used as a mask their bodies naked to the breech-cloth painted in stripes with a pendant ornament of a skunk tail tied to the right leg. In their hands they carried lances decorated with eagle feathers. These they grasped in both hands as the[y] went at a smart pace jumping about & imitating the motions & grunting of the newly arrived buffalo. It was believed to be the precursor of a greater display the following day—but we were disappointed. It is the buffalo dance & is performed, to induce that animal to appear 208
Buffalo Dancers
209
Buffalo Dancers
210 199 & furnish their food. As the buffalo appears at first in small numbers & then gradually encreasing, so they imitate its habits & send two or three at first to dance & then a greater number. Buffalo are found within sixty or a hundred miles of this point. They formerly inhabited all parts of this vast country from the Atlantic west. 12
12 There seems to be no evidence that the buffalo ever was found east of the Allegheny Mountains.
18. In an arbor formed of green boughs laid upon a frame work of young trees the commissioners of the U. S. & the chiefs of the Decotahs met to treat. At one end on a raised platform was placed a table behind which sat the commissioners[,] the american flag hoisted behind them a few feet from the arbor, at the sides were the secretaries, reporters & to the right & left stood & sat on the ground the traders half-breed & spectators. In a semicircle in front of the commission, the chiefs were seated on benches, & the intervening space was occupied by the interpreters, & a barrell of sugar & water a favorite beverage with the Indians during warm weather stood in the midst. Behind the chiefs within & around the arbour were grouped, on foot & on horseback, on the ground & on their feet, the Dacotahs, young & old, of inferior rank, men women & children, arrayed in their best & eagerly watching the progress of the negociation. Silence & dignified characterized the assembly as the pipe was lighted by Mr 211 200Alexis Bailly, the Master of ceremonies, & a few whiffs having been smoked by the commissioners it was held in succession to the mouth of each chief. [Pioneer.] 13
13 The word inclosed in brackets is written in pencil.
Mr. A. S. H. White had raised a kite greatly to the amuse[ment] of the Indian children, a crowd of whom collected around him to watch it as it soared higher & higher into the pure ether. The half-grown boys & the dogs of the Indian village are the greatest pests it has been any fortune to meet in this tour. Too old to attract by the grace & interest of childhood, they have its inquisitiveness, which uncurbed by the sense of propriety of the adult becomes impudence. They have not pride enough to cultivate personal appearance & the cleanliness which they assume with manhood is absent. Very dirty, very ugly & very mischievous.
In every village there are a race of mongrel curs, half terrier half wolf, who annoy ever[y] passer by with a volley of barks, & endanger his heels, with their teeth. By a singular contradiction the same sound with which we “set a dog on” they use to call him off from his attack. The Indian very *friendly* persons during “heat” are tied for nights on the prarie where the wolves pass & the result of the intercourse is evident in the sharp ears, bushy tails, & wild eyes of the progeny.
After council a number of young men accompanied 212 201by three girls & carrying their musical instruments [drums, flutes & rattles,] 14 came to dance the “prariewolf” dance. This is danced by young men who have not yet killed an enemy & who have vowed to cut the hair on the sides of their head about their temples short until they have fulfilled their vow. The dance is the usual jumping “shaker” motion with singing & beating on the drum & rattling, the girls assisting with their voices in the louder portions.
14 The words inclosed in brackets are written in pencil.
On the following day a “Mandan” dance was performed by some of the chief-men of the upper Sissetons. In this, a large drum highly ornamented & supported on four sticks is beat upon by the dancers who sit in a circle around it, each one having a stick. Their voices kept time to the music & two boys of about twelve & three of four young girls sang with them during portions of the performance. After a preliminary overture on the drum the one arose related an exploit & then accompanied by two or three others danced somewhat in the style of a “ho-down” or hornpipe, minus the patting of the hands of the one & the variety & freedom of the latter. During his dancing the others beat & sang & when he sat down he joined in until another arose made his speech & danced. This was continued until all had spoken & they had succeeded in extorting a present of tobacco, when they retired leaving our tympanums to recover from the shock which they 213 202had sustained. A large crowd[,] horsemen & foot[,] surrounded the marquee & dancers, & the setting sun beatifully gilded the edges of the figures in the background.
[After leaving our camp they went to the tent of Little Crow before which they repeated the first performance. As a token of his appreciation of this honor Little crow presented his beatiful head-dress of seventeen eagle-plumes to the principal chief & stated that he was sorry that it was incomplete the number of his scalps entitling him to twenty four feathers. Another Indian presented a horse to a dancer & for days after whenever the horse & his new rider approached the camp he was heard to chaunt the praises of the donor at the top of his voice.] 15
15 The paragraph inclosed in brackets is written in pencil on pages 5 and 6 of diary F. It is followed by four blank pages. The final paragraph, which follows here, appears at the foot of the page on the outside back cover of diary F.
The pipe of peace is the ordinary pipe of the Indian highly ornamented. A soldier's pipe is adorned with eagle plumes & the pipe smoked on a war party has the stem stained black or red.
Addenda 1Index
www.dogpile.com/info.dogpl/clickit/search?r_aid=1A49EB5FDA604173B9786E9923643590&r_eop=3&r_sacop=18&r_spf=0&r_cop=main-title&r_snpp=11&r_spp=7&qqn=JVoqBZhT&r_coid=239137&rawto=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/gc/lhbum/17122/17122.sgm
18 Goodhue, in the Pioneer for July 24, gives the following account of the search for the nonexistent lake: “Several young men of our camp started off in the morning, across the river, to see Cedar Lake, a handsome sheet, in the midst of a dark forest, distant, it is said, about five or six or seven, or it may be eight miles, or perhaps leagues, from the Traverse. They returned without seeing Cedar Lake, not knowing where to look for it but thinking, neverthelss, that they could come so near it, that the artist in their company, who draws every thing, from the cork of a porter bottle to a queer conclusion, would be able to draw it, but he did not. The fact is, like a Mackinaw boat, he draws but very little water; but when it comes to drawing rations, we or dry, our painter is ‘ thar! ‘” 199 188
As yesterday the Indians performed a sham-fight on foot, to day a somewhat similar manuevre, was executed on horse-back. All the upper band of Sissetons, mounted their horses, being in full dress with the exception of their heads, which were nearly concealed by branches which they carried in their hands, & with which they were bedecked in different ways, mostly, sashwise. They thus presented much the appearanced accorded to McDuffs army when “Birnam wood did come to Dunsinane”. This long cavalcade then proceeded to the various encampments discharging their guns as they passed, which were quickly answered by the others as the cavalry swept swiftly by, allowing no time for a ceremony which is sometimes practised, but which on this occasion was not agreeable to the horsemen. If an Indian of the encampment succeeds in including a horseman to dismount & engage in a sham fight & the footman performing the maneuvre of scalping is successful, his opponent presents him his horse. The custom is a complimentary one usual with friendly tribes or bands of the same tribe. Having passed the encampments 200 189of the different bands the[y]drew up before the commissioner's tents where they passed in review & were presented with a gift of tobacco & biscuit which was divided among them by their chief men. As they sped homeward in scattering parties, racing their horses over the prarie, up & down its gentle undulations, at one moment almost lost to view & the next emerging in distinct profile on the horizon, then sweeping off into the distance until lost among their teepees, they presented objects of picturesque interest, the vast extent of green prarie varied by their long shadows projected by the setting sun.
No situation is so well adapted for the view of a fine sunset as one of these praries, with its distinct & unobstructed horizon. The large & “quiet” mass of green sward serving as a foil to display the brilliant & various colours of the sunset to great advantage. The great clearness of the atmosphere adds very much to the beauty of the scence [scene], the delicate gradations of color & effect are distinctly visible. 19
19 Mayer drew a line through all but the first sentence of this paragraph.
201 190
XI Sioux Gods and Men
The Dacotah have a god whom they call Ha-o-kah, or the contrary god. 1 They suppose him to be a little old man with a short body & very long legs, who goes naked during the winter, suffering intensely from heat, while in summer he is warmly clothed to exclude the cold by which he is chilled. Any one under his influence acts in direct opposition to the usual deportment of sane persons. If desired to go, he stays, to sleep he keeps awake, to laugh he cries, he speaks by contraries. One under his influence the other day, said, “how dry the river is there is no water in the channel. I never saw it so low.” The river was then higher than it has been for years. Two brothers under his influence entered 1 The word “Ha-o-kah” is written in pencil, and apparently is not in Mayer's handwriting. “The nature of the Heyoka is not simply supernatural, it is the opposite of nature,” writes Gideon H. Pond in an account of “Dakota Gods,” in Minnesota Historical Collections, 2: 232. According to this writer the Sioux gods included four varieties of Heyoka. “They feel perfect assurance when beset with dangers, and quake terror when safe. With them falsehood and truth are reversed; good is their evil and evil their good.” 202 191 the camp attired very much after the manner of heralds with short buffalo-hide cloaks painted with different devices, as birds, stars, diamond patterns &c, & a long string of feathers pendant from their heads. They walked or danced in a polka-like step arm in arm their bow & arrows in one hand & in the other they carried rattles which kept time to a perpetual song or chaunt which they sang. Dancing thro' the teepees they were told not to go to the Governor's Camp, when they immediately turned round & went there[,] a result which was desired by the commissioners who wished to see them. A heavy shower did not seem to disconcert them in the least. [In entering a house they backed in & out.] 2
2 The sentence inclosed in brackets is written in pencil on a lefthand page facing page 2 of diary E. Some sketches of the “Haokah dancers” appear in Mayer's Sketchbooks, 42:83, 84.
The Dacotah religion is Pantheistic. 3 They indue every object with a spiritual existence or mysterious power. They pray to every object in nature which they wish to appease or supplicate, if asked what they pray chiefly too, they say to stones, for there are more of them almost any other object they know. [Every person generally selecting some particular object which is his “patron saint” as it were—or “medicine”. If possible he procures the object & having preserved it in an ornamental bag, 3 A general account of the “religion and worship” of the Sioux is presented by Pond, in Minnesota Historical Collection, 12: 401-409. 203 192 pouch, or vessell, he keeps it with care near him, & when he dies it is buried with him.] 4
4 The passage inclosed in brackets is written at the foot of a lefthand page facing page 2 of diary E.
Beside these they have several invisible deities who possess great power. These are the Spirit of water, whom [sic] they say, is a “big fish” or “sea monster”, the spirit of lightning & who is a man, with small body long arms & large wings & clothed in red who flies thro the air & his rapid motion & bright garments causes the appearance of lightning.
[Neptune
“Oonc-ta-hee,” i,e, one who is dreadful—he is supposed to be a sea-monster of dreadful appearance Wahkahende—[ blank in MS. ] The thunder which is a favorite mystery is said to be caused by one or some say, two great-birds, called “Wahkeah” whose flapping or voice as they fly thro' the air causes the sound of the thunder. 5
5 According to Gideon Pond, the Sioux gods included two “Onktehi,” which in external form resembled huge oxen. “The dwelling place of the male is in the water, and the spirit of the female animates the earth.” It is therefore the male that Mayer described as the Neptune of the Sioux. The Indians believed that the missionary Hopkins was drowned because he had offended this god. Pond asserts that the Dakota mythology included four “Wakinyan” or flyers—great birds that cause the thunder. Minnesota Historical Collections, 2: 219-222, 228.
“Some think these deities to be solitary, others that there are races of them. The Thunder birds & the spirit of the water, who is the “medicine god” & burrows under ground are always at war—& the lighting 204 193striking to the earth is when the air-deity strikes the earth & water monster. The bones of the mammoth which are sometimes found on the praries, they think are the conquered deities' remains & preserve them a
6 The Sioux “had seen bones of the mammoth, pieces of which they had in their possession,” according to Samuel Pond. They thought that these were the bones of a huge buffalo or ox, and since it exceeded other animals in size, it was “adopted as their chief god.” Minnesota Historical Collections, 12:403. 7 The caption and the two paragraph inclosed in brackets are written on a left-hand page facing page 3 of diary E. The first word, or heading, and the second paragraph are written in pencil.
Then there is Withokah the “fool-maker” or the god who makes the game foolish that the Dacotah may the more easily capture them. He is frequent[l]y prayed to. The sun & moon are also deities & there is a spirit of the earth & fire & the four winds. The god of war is however chiefly worshipped. The idea of the “great-spirit” is probably derived from the whites.
[Pallas
We-an-no-pa-pee, (two women,) preside over ornamental work &c & one skilful in such things has dreamed of or is inspired by Weannopapee. Tah-koo-shka-shka-shka (he who stirs) animates their weapons & is the god of motion. His disposition is peevish & he is easily displeased—he is therefore 205 194treated with peculiar reverence. Their armor-feast is made to this god and are frequent. He also resides in boulders, & presides at the hot bath. The medicine men in some instances are under his influence. 8
8 Most of the Sioux gods mentioned by Mayer are described also by Pond, in Minnesota Historical Collections, 2: 219-255.
Their form of prayer is destitute of the usual appearance of reverence. As they proceed to the hunt, anything which is considered by them as a deity is offered the pipe & trinket, feather or piece of tobacco or food is placed before it to secure it's good will & assistance. Their game is often a deity & if the opportunity permits, a prayer the burthen of which is that it may permit itself to be killed, is pronounced, the pipe & some sacrifice is offered to it & then it is slain. They speak of & address their gods as familia[r] acquaintances & look upon [them] rather as beings to be appeased than beloved.
After death they suppose their spirits to be rewarded or punished according to their behaviour in this world. After the soul leaves the body it journeys over, (some say an iron) road far to the south at last it reaches a wide lake or river, where the only crossing is by a long pole laid across it at the apposite end of which a goddess stands. The Sioux tattoo their bodies with various figures & these are their passports to the region of happiness beyound the river. 9 If they have been good men & can show 9 Mayer seems to have confused the use of paint by the Sioux with the practice of tattooing, which was unknown by this tribe. It is unlikely that any of the motifs with which they decorated their bodies were looked upon as “passports to the region of happiness.” Miss Frances Densmore to the editor, October 9, 1931. 206 195 these marks, they are permitted to pass. If not the goddess shakes the poles & they fall into the water. Little children who have not been tattooed show the veins on their hands & feet. Beyound the river are fine hunting grounds & the perfection of all the pleasures which they enjoyed in this life. They suppose this region to be some place on Earth, far to the South. The milky-way is called the road of spirits.] 10
10 The caption and the three paragraphs inclosed in brackets are written in pencil on three left-hand pages facing pages 4, 5, and 6 of diary E.
An Indian stood before the commissioners clad with the most ragged garments, his hair dishevelled & his face blackened & wearing an expression of grief & fatigue. His daughter with three others had been murdered & scalped by some hostile war-party 11 —& he had just arrived from the scene of slaughter, his heart was sore, he said, & he could not rest until he had told his father, (the commissioner). They had been set upon by some ten men as they were travelling in a hitherto safe country & fired upon from an ambush. They at first ran & seeing no chance of escaping they returned & instant[l]y the tomahawk cleft their skulls. The wretches mutilated their bodies & escaped with the scalps. A boy, the only male with them, was closely pursued by them but 11 Goodhue, in the Pioneer for July 24, also mentions the arrival of the bereaved father, who he says was a Sisseton. 207 196 escaped by his speed & brought the news to the father who immediately set out on horseback with a fellow Sioux & found the bodies, which they collected together, threw a blanket over them & left them to the next comers, who were hourly expected, by bury them. He presented a picture of a downstricken man as he sat on the ground, his head resting between his hands & his face half concealed by long black locks of disheveled hair, Grieved, starving & fatigued.
As I stood on the highest point of the prarie I observed at the farthest teepees two objects, apparently bipeds with enormous heads, dodgeing about & “progressing” thro' the villages, their nearer approach & constant motion evinced by the more distinct tinkling of the bells suspended about their persons. Viewed nearer, they were Indians with the skins of the head of the buffalo with the horns attached, placed upon their shoulders & used as a mask their bodies naked to the breech-cloth painted in stripes with a pendant ornament of a skunk tail tied to the right leg. In their hands they carried lances decorated with eagle feathers. These they grasped in both hands as the[y] went at a smart pace jumping about & imitating the motions & grunting of the newly arrived buffalo. It was believed to be the precursor of a greater display the following day—but we were disappointed. It is the buffalo dance & is performed, to induce that animal to appear 208
Buffalo Dancers
209
Buffalo Dancers
210 199 & furnish their food. As the buffalo appears at first in small numbers & then gradually encreasing, so they imitate its habits & send two or three at first to dance & then a greater number. Buffalo are found within sixty or a hundred miles of this point. They formerly inhabited all parts of this vast country from the Atlantic west. 12
12 There seems to be no evidence that the buffalo ever was found east of the Allegheny Mountains.
18. In an arbor formed of green boughs laid upon a frame work of young trees the commissioners of the U. S. & the chiefs of the Decotahs met to treat. At one end on a raised platform was placed a table behind which sat the commissioners[,] the american flag hoisted behind them a few feet from the arbor, at the sides were the secretaries, reporters & to the right & left stood & sat on the ground the traders half-breed
13 The word inclosed in brackets is written in pencil.
Mr. A. S. H. White had raised a kite greatly to the amuse[ment] of the Indian children, a crowd of whom collected around him to watch it as it soared higher & higher into the pure ether. The half-grown boys & the dogs of the Indian village are the greatest pests it has been any fortune to meet in this tour. Too old to attract by the grace & interest of childhood, they have its inquisitiveness, which uncurbed by the sense of propriety of the adult becomes impudence. They have not pride enough to cultivate personal appearance & the cleanliness which they assume with manhood is absent. Very dirty, very ugly & very mischievous.
In every village there are a race of mongrel curs, half terrier half wolf, who annoy ever[y] passer by with a volley of barks, & endanger his heels, with their teeth. By a singular contradiction the same sound with which we “set a dog on” they use to call him off from his attack. The Indian very *friendly* persons during “heat” are tied for nights on the prarie where the wolves pass & the result of the intercourse is evident in the sharp ears, bushy tails, & wild eyes of the progeny.
After council a number of young men accompanied 212 201by three girls & carrying their musical instruments [drums, flutes & rattles,] 14 came to dance the “prariewolf” dance. This is danced by young men who have not yet killed an enemy & who have vowed to cut the hair on the sides of their head about their temples short until they have fulfilled their vow. The dance is the usual jumping “shaker” motion with singing & beating on the drum & rattling, the girls assisting with their voices in the louder portions.
14 The words inclosed in brackets are written in pencil.
On the following day a “Mandan” dance was performed by some of the chief-men of the upper Sissetons. In this, a large drum highly ornamented & supported on four sticks is beat upon by the dancers who sit in a circle around it, each one having a stick. Their voices kept time to the music & two boys of about twelve & three of four young girls sang with them during portions of the performance. After a preliminary overture on the drum the one arose related an exploit & then accompanied by two or three others danced somewhat in the style of a “ho-down” or hornpipe, minus the patting of the hands of the one & the variety & freedom of the latter. During his dancing the others beat & sang & when he sat down he joined in until another arose made his speech & danced. This was continued until all had spoken & they had succeeded in extorting a present of tobacco, when they retired leaving our tympanums to recover from the shock which they 213 202had sustained. A large crowd[,] horsemen & foot[,] surrounded the marquee & dancers, & the setting sun beatifully gilded the edges of the figures in the background.
[After leaving our camp they went to the tent of Little Crow before which they repeated the first performance. As a token of his appreciation of this honor Little crow presented his beatiful head-dress of seventeen eagle-plumes to the principal chief & stated that he was sorry that it was incomplete the number of his scalps entitling him to twenty four feathers. Another Indian presented a horse to a dancer & for days after whenever the horse & his new rider approached the camp he was heard to chaunt the praises of the donor at the top of his voice.] 15
15 The paragraph inclosed in brackets is written in pencil on pages 5 and 6 of diary F. It is followed by four blank pages. The final paragraph, which follows here, appears at the foot of the page on the outside back cover of diary F.
The pipe of peace is the ordinary pipe of the Indian highly ornamented. A soldier's pipe is adorned with eagle plumes & the pipe smoked on a war party has the stem stained black or red.
Addenda 1Index
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