168 BUEEAU OF AMERTCAN ETHNOLOGY [bpll. 45 



It was about 10 o'clock when the ])arade started. There were 

 no carriages with smiling, bowing speakers prepared to instruct and 

 inspire. About fifty Indians were riding. Their costumes were bright 

 with beadwork and gay streamers adorned the ponies. One man had 

 swathed his pony in a huge American flag, and thus garbed it walked 

 in the rear, following the procession like the s]:>irit of a soldier's horse 

 slain in the ])order wars. 



The little parade took its way down the hill, across the bridge, 

 and up to the agent's office. The leading men drew up their horses 

 in a circle before the door, and each made a patriotic little speech 

 to the agent; then they filed out of the inclosure and across the 

 bridge once more, stopping before one of the stores, where the same 

 programme was repeated. This finished, they went to the other 

 store, a crowd following in their wake. (See pi. 12.) 



It was considered that the day was formally and properly opened, 

 and the procession jingled away to the camp. 



The noonday sun shone hotly down, dogs and babies sought the 

 shady side of the tipis, yet a general sense of joyous expectancy 

 filled the air. Soon the beat of the drum was heard in the direc- 

 tion of the dancing circle with a low, vibrating lie lie as the singers 

 practised around the dmm, a shelter of boughs being provided for 

 their protection. 



The war dance began about 2 o'clock. Only a few were present 

 at first, but soon dignified figures were seen coming from the tipis, 

 each wrapped in a bright blanket or bedquilt. An Indian on his 

 way to the dance does not stop to parley or to greet his friends; 

 he sees nothing but the pole which rises high in the center of the 

 circle, and he hears nothing but the throb of the drum. The lead- 

 ing chief, Nae'tawab', did not join the war dance at first. A chair 

 was placed for him at one side of the circle, but he did not hasten 

 his entry. 



Throughout this celebration the costumes were more primitive 

 than those seen on other reservations. The difference consisted in a 

 more extensive use of feathers, shell, bone, and horsehair in the 

 decorations. Only two or three men wore felt hats. The wearing 

 of the hat in the dance constitutes a sharply defined line of demar- 

 cation between the full-blood and the mixed-blood Indian. On other 

 reservations black felt hats were wound with red yarn, stuck with 

 bright feathers, and adorned with yards of ribbon brilliant and 

 varied in hue, but no such motley garb marred the dignity of the 

 Red Lake dancers. Everyone wore some head covering, but it was 

 of native construction. Stiff moose hair, dyed and fastened on a small 

 wooden frame, constituted a popular headdress. In sha]ie this resem- 

 bled a huge flat rosette on top of the head with a strip extending 

 down the back of the head to the neck and wuth one or two heron 



