413 EXPEDITION TO THE 



to the relations, amounted annually to sixty or seventy 

 dollars in goods, worth about thirty dollars in cash. To an 

 Indian it does not of course cost so much, as less is expect- 

 ed from him than from a trader. Our informant added that 

 it was always better to make these presents, because other- 

 wise the wife would make gi'eater ones, as it would 

 be impossible for her to resist the importunities of her 

 friends, and particularly of her mother. 



According to the best information which we have ob- 

 tained, the number of cinaedi is very small among the Da- 

 cotas. We heard of but two, one in the village of Keoxa, 

 the other among the Miakechakesa ; there are probably a 

 few others, but the number is certainly very small, and 

 they are held in the utmost contempt. 



What struck Lewis and Clarke most, among the Sioux, 

 " was an institution, peculiar to them and to the Kite Indians, 

 from whom it is said to have been copied. It is an association of 

 the most active and brave young men, who are bound to each 

 other by attachment, secured by a vow never to retreat before 

 any danger, or give way to their enemies."* Of this inte- 

 resting institution we have collected the following features. 

 It constitutes what is called the " Dance of the Brave,'* 

 or more properly perhaps, " those who perform the Dance 

 of the Brave." There exists in some of the bands of the 

 Dacotas, and probably also among some of the other Mis- 

 souri Indians, an association called the Naiipash^'n^^, those 

 who never fly or retreat. A society of this kind originates 

 in an union of two friends, who, when a warlike expedi- 

 tion is projected, propose to form an association. They 

 send for a third warrior, and these three appoint the whole 

 number, which seldom exceeds thirty or forty. When 



• Vol. I. p. 60. 



