334 INDIANS. 



another, sprung to his feet and struck in just where he hap- 

 pened to be, without joining or nearing the others. In ten 

 minutes from the time the old lady gave her first ; whoo- 

 ah,' the whole camp was full of isolated figures lifting foot 

 after foot, jerking their bodies and filling the air with a 

 babel of ' whoo-ahs.' A more ridiculous and unmeaning 

 spectacle to an outsider could not be imagined. 



The ceremonial dances of the Indians have been so 

 frequently and so minutely described, that I can add 

 nothing to the stock of knowledge on that subject, except, 

 perhaps, in a single item, viz.. the part of such cere- 

 monial forced on captives. 



I was once a spectator at a scalp dance, which was 

 a special and exceptional occasion ; for not only had a 

 goodly number of scalps been taken, but two prisoners, 

 a woman of about forty and a boy of twelve, were to 

 grace the ceremony. The peeled wands bearing the 

 stretched scalps had been planted in a circle in the ground. 

 The warriors who had been ia the fight, and won the 

 right to participate in the dance, were assembled in a 

 circle around these wands. The prisoners were brought 

 from the lodge in which they were confined, by the war- 

 riors who had captured them, and forced to take places 

 in this circle, their hands being held by the hands of the 

 warriors on either side of them. At a signal all the war- 

 riors joined hands, and commenced the monotonous song, 

 accompanied by the alternate lifting of feet, as described, 

 all turning slowly about the scalps. The woman prisoner 

 accepted the situation, and in looks and actions appeared 

 to take as enjoyable an interest in the dance as any of 

 the proper performers. Not so the boy. With eyes 

 downcast, without a voluntary motion of foot or body, 

 he was dragged round the circle, taking only such walk- 

 ing steps as were necessary to avoid being pulled down. 

 As the dance progressed, all the warriors became excited, 

 all eyes were fixed on the scalps, as each slayer in turn, 

 springing from the circle and bounding to his wand, 



