Post by ephriam on Jun 4, 2014 10:39:47 GMT -5
Pine Ridge, S.D. 10 July 1907
In room of John (“Jim”) Burdick, engineer at the agency
Recorder: Edmond S. Meany
Doctor Charles A. Eastman and Burdick carry on lively conversation for which the following was gleaned:
Thunder Dance
The giver of the dance sat in a very small tipi like a sweat house in the center of the arbor. This little tipi had two openings. The surrounding arbor had four offerings. From the center of the park near the little tipi rises a pole from the top of which was dangled an imitation or effigy of the Thunder Bird. At the foot of the pole is a fine pipe.
The dance-giver sings in the little tipi and all the young men remain outside of the arbor until the singer ends the chorus part of the song and then they rush through the four openings of the arbor with great whooping and jollity.
This is continued until the effigy of the Thunder Bird is shot down. At that moment there is a grand rush and scramble, the young men piling up in heaps. They are endeavoring to be the first to touch the pipe or the bird. Each or both will bring good luck to the young warrior.
In social dances the old form was a sort of musele[?] dance with slight step toward the left. The girls danced on one side and the boys on the other. The choosing of partners for the dance was of late practice. The girl’s blanket would be puckered around the face with a peek hole in the folds with which she would follow the dancing partner she wanted. The boy would approach and throw a part of his blanket over the girl’s shoulder. If she did not object the partners would start in the dance together.
Games
Boys would choose sides for a sham battle. The weapons were balls of alkali clay kuraded to a tough pliable form, which would be stuck on the end of a throwing rod. Experience made it possible to throw far and straight. The balls as they came near whistled in a threatening manner and stung when they hit. If in a sortie a boy was hit in the leg, he was wounded and his fellows would rush out to rescue or protect him. In such close range the rods were used as weapons and Dr. Eastman says he many times came home with his body covered with welts.
Small bows were made and arrows of “blue-stem”, whose alternate leaves were cut off leaving sharp stems about an inch long. Sides were chosen and these battles resulted in the boys bodies being covered with blood from the wounds by the little sharp points.
A ring of holes in the ground with one other hole in the center. Each player of the “ins” must guard one of these holes with his stick and at the same time try to drive the ball into the center hole. The “outs” were watchful to steal the holes from the “ins.” If opportunity presented one of the “outs” would toss the ball away as far as he could. It was then the duty of one of the “ins” to chase it back into the ring and, of course, one of the “outs” would steal his hole in the ring while he was gone.
A ground arrow was made of a long supple rod with a bone head which when it struck the ground would cause it to bounce and sail on. Distance of the skimming throw was the object.
Another form of ground arrow was two pieces of the ends of buffalo’s short ribs fastened to a short rod to which was also fastened a feather. In throwing at the start only the feather touched the ground. The arrow skimmed along the ground and bounced when it struck. Distance was the object of the throw.
Rings of bent twigs were netted with rawhide leaving a hole in the center. These were tossed or rolled about and caught on playing rods. The winning side would then take the rings and clout the losers with them. So when a side saw it was losing the boys would flee to avoid the punishment.
Tops were made from the ends of buffalo horns ground to a point sharpened and the hollow part filled with packed earth. Whips were made of rods about eighteen inches long and with one or two buckskin lashes a trifle longer than the rods. With these the tops would be whipped to a humming speed. On the end of the whip rod was a little spoon shaped horn or carved wood. In this the humming top would be carried over obstacles when the whip would be applied again to keep up or restore the humming. This was a winter game and the best spinning was on the ice. The one who got over the greatest distance successfully would end the game by hurling his humming top as far as he could.
In the old days the women prepared a dress of a single buffalo robe by arranging it about the body, closing around the neck, leaving the arms free the hair of the robe being next to the body except that the head of the buffalo which was allowed to hang from the waist, under the left arm, with the hair outside. In a winter game the boys used these robes. They prepared a small sled by lashing a net of rawhide between two buffalo ribs as runners. Wrapping the buffalo robe around the body they passed the skin of the buffalo head between the legs and used it as a seat on the sled. With these they slid down glassy paths of ice or hardened snow on the hillsides.
They would vary this fun by wrapping up in the buffalo robe and roll, slide and tumble down the hillside without a sled. This toughened the body and Doctor Eastman says because of that early training he never gets dizzy now no matter what happens to him.
In the summer time the boys were given entire charge of the horses except those kept up for some special need or use. They would take the horses out to graze but would bring them all back at night for some Indians of other tribes might come and steal them. Three times a day the horses were driven to water and this was the time the boys had fun. They would swim across the river holding to a horse’s tail and in many ways imitate the men folks on raids, in war or in travelling. The horse seemed to enter into the game and tossed up their tails as though they enjoyed the sport with the boys.
When it came evening the boys gathered bundles of a low, broad-leafed grass and threw them across the bare backed horses they rode. This was for night feeding of the horses in camp. After gathering this the boys made imitation shields and weapons of leaves and twigs and on approaching the village they rode about shouting and singing in imitation of the successful return of a war-party.
Sometimes the girls accompanied the boys and as they neared the village the young men came out to walk by the side of the ponies on which their sweethearts rode. This was one for of courtship. A young man never courted a girl in her own tipi.
A form of dice was made by burning on the pits of the wild plums pictures of birds and animals. Six of these made a set and the game was similar to throwing dice This was an in-doors game.
Delicacies
In the old days there were many delicacies now passed away.
Elk horns, “in the milk,” when about a foot long were roasted or boiled and Burdick the old scout smacked his lips and said they were crisp and fine, better than celery.
Bears’ feet were roasted and the outer skin removed when the thick part of the “palm” was eaten. It was like the best buffalo fat.
Moose nose when properly prepared was one of the choicest of delicacies.
Antelope eyes were highly esteemed.
Buffalo hump and a piece of meat at the brisket were also choice portions.
Beaver tails were esteemed by Burdick but Doctor Eastman said he did enjoy them.
Pemmican was a staple. Jerked buffalo meat was powdered and mixed with fat obtained by cracking the bones and frying out the marrow. They also enriched the meat by adding berries or cherries.
Indian women took slabs of dried meat and between two such put a layer of buffalo marrow. These slabs held before a fire and kept free from some and ashes were toasted. “I tell you,” said Burdick, “that was something good to eat.”
Animals
Doctor Eastman says the Sioux made a glue of the horns and hoofs of the buffalo which they used in strengthening bows and arrows after the sinew had been lashed on.
They also made a glue from the bladders of fishes.
Eastman and Burdick discussed the question and agreed that neither had ever heard of the grey wolves attacking men.
Buffalo herds were always accompanied by other animals. Antelopes were pickets for the herds. They lingered on the outer edge. An approaching hunter would first alarm the antelope and the buck would whistle and circle around the danger, come back and whistling again. This would attract the watchful herd and instantly the danger would be scented.
Scattered wolves were always encountered lurking around the herds, both grey wolves and coyotes. There was another called “swift,” a small fox with a large tail. It is described as gliding through the grass rather than running like the others. The hunter usually saw nothing but the waving, plume-like tail speeding through the prairie grass.
Wolves were successful buffalo hunters and Doctor Eastman says places can yet be shown where buffalo herds surged in circles with the precious calves in the center. The wolves would charge with a sort of military precision. It is claimed that they always selected one of the best members of the herd for the victim. They often charged in a line the better to cut the victim out of the defensive circle. It is also claimed that in chasing a buffalo the wolves would arrange themselves about the prarie so as to run in relays.
When the buffalo is “cut out” the rest of the herd abandon it and escape as rapidly as possible.
Wolves attack by catching the ham-strings and then the nose. They attack elk, moose, deer and antelope in front but when the elk horns grow they attack in the rear.
Wolf cooperation ceases when the victim is down. Then they fight each other for the prize and often come out of such fights badly wounded. Burdick says that when he was “wolfing” he got hides showing scars from the head along the shoulder showing a terrific tearing in some fight over such a hard won prize on the prairie.
In hunting wolves the first baits were put along the “bottoms,” after the first freeze along the benches and then back in the hills as the winter advanced.
In room of John (“Jim”) Burdick, engineer at the agency
Recorder: Edmond S. Meany
Doctor Charles A. Eastman and Burdick carry on lively conversation for which the following was gleaned:
Thunder Dance
The giver of the dance sat in a very small tipi like a sweat house in the center of the arbor. This little tipi had two openings. The surrounding arbor had four offerings. From the center of the park near the little tipi rises a pole from the top of which was dangled an imitation or effigy of the Thunder Bird. At the foot of the pole is a fine pipe.
The dance-giver sings in the little tipi and all the young men remain outside of the arbor until the singer ends the chorus part of the song and then they rush through the four openings of the arbor with great whooping and jollity.
This is continued until the effigy of the Thunder Bird is shot down. At that moment there is a grand rush and scramble, the young men piling up in heaps. They are endeavoring to be the first to touch the pipe or the bird. Each or both will bring good luck to the young warrior.
In social dances the old form was a sort of musele[?] dance with slight step toward the left. The girls danced on one side and the boys on the other. The choosing of partners for the dance was of late practice. The girl’s blanket would be puckered around the face with a peek hole in the folds with which she would follow the dancing partner she wanted. The boy would approach and throw a part of his blanket over the girl’s shoulder. If she did not object the partners would start in the dance together.
Games
Boys would choose sides for a sham battle. The weapons were balls of alkali clay kuraded to a tough pliable form, which would be stuck on the end of a throwing rod. Experience made it possible to throw far and straight. The balls as they came near whistled in a threatening manner and stung when they hit. If in a sortie a boy was hit in the leg, he was wounded and his fellows would rush out to rescue or protect him. In such close range the rods were used as weapons and Dr. Eastman says he many times came home with his body covered with welts.
Small bows were made and arrows of “blue-stem”, whose alternate leaves were cut off leaving sharp stems about an inch long. Sides were chosen and these battles resulted in the boys bodies being covered with blood from the wounds by the little sharp points.
A ring of holes in the ground with one other hole in the center. Each player of the “ins” must guard one of these holes with his stick and at the same time try to drive the ball into the center hole. The “outs” were watchful to steal the holes from the “ins.” If opportunity presented one of the “outs” would toss the ball away as far as he could. It was then the duty of one of the “ins” to chase it back into the ring and, of course, one of the “outs” would steal his hole in the ring while he was gone.
A ground arrow was made of a long supple rod with a bone head which when it struck the ground would cause it to bounce and sail on. Distance of the skimming throw was the object.
Another form of ground arrow was two pieces of the ends of buffalo’s short ribs fastened to a short rod to which was also fastened a feather. In throwing at the start only the feather touched the ground. The arrow skimmed along the ground and bounced when it struck. Distance was the object of the throw.
Rings of bent twigs were netted with rawhide leaving a hole in the center. These were tossed or rolled about and caught on playing rods. The winning side would then take the rings and clout the losers with them. So when a side saw it was losing the boys would flee to avoid the punishment.
Tops were made from the ends of buffalo horns ground to a point sharpened and the hollow part filled with packed earth. Whips were made of rods about eighteen inches long and with one or two buckskin lashes a trifle longer than the rods. With these the tops would be whipped to a humming speed. On the end of the whip rod was a little spoon shaped horn or carved wood. In this the humming top would be carried over obstacles when the whip would be applied again to keep up or restore the humming. This was a winter game and the best spinning was on the ice. The one who got over the greatest distance successfully would end the game by hurling his humming top as far as he could.
In the old days the women prepared a dress of a single buffalo robe by arranging it about the body, closing around the neck, leaving the arms free the hair of the robe being next to the body except that the head of the buffalo which was allowed to hang from the waist, under the left arm, with the hair outside. In a winter game the boys used these robes. They prepared a small sled by lashing a net of rawhide between two buffalo ribs as runners. Wrapping the buffalo robe around the body they passed the skin of the buffalo head between the legs and used it as a seat on the sled. With these they slid down glassy paths of ice or hardened snow on the hillsides.
They would vary this fun by wrapping up in the buffalo robe and roll, slide and tumble down the hillside without a sled. This toughened the body and Doctor Eastman says because of that early training he never gets dizzy now no matter what happens to him.
In the summer time the boys were given entire charge of the horses except those kept up for some special need or use. They would take the horses out to graze but would bring them all back at night for some Indians of other tribes might come and steal them. Three times a day the horses were driven to water and this was the time the boys had fun. They would swim across the river holding to a horse’s tail and in many ways imitate the men folks on raids, in war or in travelling. The horse seemed to enter into the game and tossed up their tails as though they enjoyed the sport with the boys.
When it came evening the boys gathered bundles of a low, broad-leafed grass and threw them across the bare backed horses they rode. This was for night feeding of the horses in camp. After gathering this the boys made imitation shields and weapons of leaves and twigs and on approaching the village they rode about shouting and singing in imitation of the successful return of a war-party.
Sometimes the girls accompanied the boys and as they neared the village the young men came out to walk by the side of the ponies on which their sweethearts rode. This was one for of courtship. A young man never courted a girl in her own tipi.
A form of dice was made by burning on the pits of the wild plums pictures of birds and animals. Six of these made a set and the game was similar to throwing dice This was an in-doors game.
Delicacies
In the old days there were many delicacies now passed away.
Elk horns, “in the milk,” when about a foot long were roasted or boiled and Burdick the old scout smacked his lips and said they were crisp and fine, better than celery.
Bears’ feet were roasted and the outer skin removed when the thick part of the “palm” was eaten. It was like the best buffalo fat.
Moose nose when properly prepared was one of the choicest of delicacies.
Antelope eyes were highly esteemed.
Buffalo hump and a piece of meat at the brisket were also choice portions.
Beaver tails were esteemed by Burdick but Doctor Eastman said he did enjoy them.
Pemmican was a staple. Jerked buffalo meat was powdered and mixed with fat obtained by cracking the bones and frying out the marrow. They also enriched the meat by adding berries or cherries.
Indian women took slabs of dried meat and between two such put a layer of buffalo marrow. These slabs held before a fire and kept free from some and ashes were toasted. “I tell you,” said Burdick, “that was something good to eat.”
Animals
Doctor Eastman says the Sioux made a glue of the horns and hoofs of the buffalo which they used in strengthening bows and arrows after the sinew had been lashed on.
They also made a glue from the bladders of fishes.
Eastman and Burdick discussed the question and agreed that neither had ever heard of the grey wolves attacking men.
Buffalo herds were always accompanied by other animals. Antelopes were pickets for the herds. They lingered on the outer edge. An approaching hunter would first alarm the antelope and the buck would whistle and circle around the danger, come back and whistling again. This would attract the watchful herd and instantly the danger would be scented.
Scattered wolves were always encountered lurking around the herds, both grey wolves and coyotes. There was another called “swift,” a small fox with a large tail. It is described as gliding through the grass rather than running like the others. The hunter usually saw nothing but the waving, plume-like tail speeding through the prairie grass.
Wolves were successful buffalo hunters and Doctor Eastman says places can yet be shown where buffalo herds surged in circles with the precious calves in the center. The wolves would charge with a sort of military precision. It is claimed that they always selected one of the best members of the herd for the victim. They often charged in a line the better to cut the victim out of the defensive circle. It is also claimed that in chasing a buffalo the wolves would arrange themselves about the prarie so as to run in relays.
When the buffalo is “cut out” the rest of the herd abandon it and escape as rapidly as possible.
Wolves attack by catching the ham-strings and then the nose. They attack elk, moose, deer and antelope in front but when the elk horns grow they attack in the rear.
Wolf cooperation ceases when the victim is down. Then they fight each other for the prize and often come out of such fights badly wounded. Burdick says that when he was “wolfing” he got hides showing scars from the head along the shoulder showing a terrific tearing in some fight over such a hard won prize on the prairie.
In hunting wolves the first baits were put along the “bottoms,” after the first freeze along the benches and then back in the hills as the winter advanced.