THE "ART" OF THE DAKOTAH INDIANS IN THE 19TH CENTURY
It is estimated that there are 300,000 Indians in the United States, and that all of the tribes, with the exception of the Dakotahs or Sioux, are rapidly decreasing in numbers. These Indians, who are the most uncivilized and warlike of all the tribes, are divided into the Santees, or Upper Bands, and the Tetons or Lower Bands, these being subdivided into other bands, all of whom live in Wyoming, Montana, and Dakota. The entire Sioux tribe numbers about 53,000. Among their chiefs are "Sitting Bull," "Little Crow," "Spotted Tail," "Red Cloud," and "Red Dog."
The war against the Northern Sioux, under "Sitting Bull," which resulted so disastrously to General Custer and his men, is fresh in the minds of all. Never was there a sadder sight than that which greeted the searchers for the missing men of the Seventh Cavalry. In one spot lay one hundred and fifteen soldiers, among whom were eleven officers. General Custer lay as if sleeping, nearby were the bodies of his two brothers, Thomas and Boston, his nephew, young Reed, a youth of nineteen, and his sister's husband, Lieut. Calhoun. Mrs. Calhoun lost in this battle her husband, three brothers, and a nephew. In this terrible death group was the body of Kellogg, the Herald's correspondent.
While Indians are very fond of scalping their enemies, they stand in great dread of being scalped themselves, for no Indian who has either been scalped or hung can enter "the happy hunting ground." Consequently, the friends of the fallen warrior make every effort to secure his body, performing prodigies of valor to bring it off the field. In some cases, an Indian will remove the entire scalp, even bringing away the ears attached to it. We are told of a man, an employee of the Union Pacific Railroad, who lived after he had been scalped, and who was a terrible object to look at. When the bullet of the Indian felled him to the earth, he feigned death, and was conscious when the scalping was going on. His friends found him in a wretched plight, and also the scalp, which the Indians had dropped. A surgeon made every effort to replace it, but without effect. When the capture of a scalp involves considerable danger, the Indian will content himself with a piece to which the hair is attached. Sometimes a night dance is performed in honor of taking the scalps. The sticks on which the scalps are extended are planted in a circle on the ground, and at a given signal the warriors join hands and dance around them, singing a low dreary chant. A scalp was presented to a traveler by a Dakotah Indian who, in securing it, had received many wounds. It is stretched on a frame which is attached to a pole, and is adorned with feathers, and various curious ornaments.
The word "medicine" among the Indians, has a signification unknown to ourselves. Every thing lucky or healthful means "good medicine," and what is the contrary, is "bad medicine." What is called "making medicine" is to mix together in a dish with a stick, a quantity of earth, sand, bones of beasts and birds, and other ingredients, which mixture is put in small pouches of dressed deer skin, and tied around the necks and in the hair of the men, women, and children. Should some peculiarity be developed during the mixing, it is called "bad medicine" and is buried out of sight. The medicine pouch is regarded as sort of a talisman against evil.
The illustration is a curiously painted buffalo robe, which was presented by an Indian warrior to the same traveler. The scene represents the captures of the chief, which appear to have been horses and women. It is a very curious affair, and is said to be very well painted, though, of course, it is not exactly our own ideal of art.
--Edited by Theresa Franks for Fine Art Registry
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