2 6o 



three little girls all riding bare-back, 

 not a scrap of harness on him but a 

 string bridle ; they stuck like burrs 

 without sign of fear and made the 

 horse gallop and turn and twist in 

 their play. They wore cheap calico 

 dresses with coloured rags braided in 

 their hair, but were dressed for the 

 occasion in moccasins and leggings 

 beautifully beaded, and some wore 

 strings of beads and wampum. A 

 band of young braves in white man's 

 garb mounted on cow-ponies were 

 having a race, and rope-throwing con- 

 test on the prairie. We had seen that 

 sort of thing before, so we left our 

 horses tied to the wagon in a group 

 with a dozen others that had come 

 from long distances to witness the 

 Feast. 



The Indians had gathered from all 

 over the Reservation, these feasts serv- 

 ing as a kind of convention at which to 

 transact the business of the nation; 

 disputes are settled, business ad justed, 

 marriages solemnised , treat ies enacted. 



A circle perhaps a hundred feet 

 across had been formed by teepees 

 and rough shelter tents and in the 

 centre of this was a tall pole with 



