ETHNOLOGY. 469 



wbeu at war, depend on their improved fire-arms. The arrows are made 

 of straight, hard-wood sticks, feathered at one end and pointed with 

 sharp iron heads about 2 inches long. They can send these arrows with 

 such force as to drive them through the body of a buffalo. Years of 

 practice have made them very ex[)ert in the use of their bows, which 

 are really formidable weapons in dry weather, but when the bow-string 

 becomes damp they are not so serviceable. They all like large hunting 

 or scalping knives, which are used for almost every purpose, and they 

 would feel utterly lost without them. The squaws have wide belts in 

 which these knives are worn, the belts themselves being ornamented 

 with brass nails. This belt appears to be the badge of servitude among 

 all classes of Indian women. Sitting Bull, a warrior of the Ogalallas, 

 (not the great chief of that name, however,) had a long lance on which 

 he had placed three knife-blades, and when the Indians at the agency 

 became too unruly about the buildings he would use the lance to 

 a good purpose. On account of his lance he was sometimes called 

 Three Knives. He was one of the guards for the agency, and on sev- 

 eral occasions proved to be a genuine friend to the white people. There 

 was a guard of two Indians from each band at the agency, who acted as 

 policemen. 



The Sioux like buckskin shirts and leggings, which are ornamented 

 with fringes of the same material. Blue blankets are much worn, and 

 the more heavily an article of dress is adorned with beads the better it 

 is suited to their tastes. Some of the buckskin coats are stiff with bead- 

 work, and are really beautiful. Large silver ornaments are also worn 

 on the necklaces, being shapjed like circles, crescents, crosses, and stars. 

 Silver beads are strung together, and frequently are of great value. 

 These Indians do not retain the scalp-lock, but let the hair grow long- 

 all over the head, painting it with vermilion, and wrapping the long 

 ends in mink and marten skins. Many of them wear black hats which 

 they adorn with feathers, beads, and bright-colored bands. The moc- 

 casins are worked with beads and porcupine quills, brightly tinted, 

 and are sometimes very beautiful. The women wear garments made of 

 buckskin with long skirts. Their hair is allowed to fall down their 

 backs, and the place where it is parted on the top of the head is well 

 painted with vermilion. In painting the face, the Indian dandy exer- 

 cises all his ingenuity, and daubs on lines, circles, and curves in the 

 strangest possible manner. Bracelets, too, of brass wire are also worn 

 on all occasions, and earrings add luster to their wonderful toilets. No 

 people on earth take more pains in adorning theraseves than the young 

 Indian bucks, and the greatest pleasure they enjoy is in admiring them- 

 selves in the looking-glasses which they always carry about with them. 



An Indian thinks himself only half dressed without his horse, and 

 when he is mounted with his war-bonnet on is indeed a handsome sight. 

 This war-bonnet is an elaborate affair, made of the feathers of the engle 

 fastened to long strips of red cloth, reaching from the top of the 



