THE GEOEGE CATLIN INDIAN GALLERY. 41 



Amongst those tribes who thus shave and ornament their heads the crest is uni- 

 formly blood-red, and the upper part of the head, and generally a considerable part 

 of the face, as red as they can possibly make it with vermilion. I found these people 

 cutting off the hair with small scissors, which they purchase of the fur-traders ; and 

 they told me that previous to getting scissors they cut it away with their knives; 

 and before they got knives, they were in the habit of burning it off with red hot 

 stones, which was a very slow and painful operation. 



With the exception of these few, all the other tribes in North America cultivata 

 the hair to the greatest length they possibly can, preserving it to flow over their 

 shoulders and backs in great profusion, and quite unwilling to spare the smallest lock 

 of it for any consideration. — 1831, George Catliu, pages 23, 24, vol. 2, Catlin's Eight 

 Years. 



DAKOTA— KAli^'S AS, OR KAW. 



The Kansas are an offshoot of the Osage, whom they resemble in many resjiects. In 

 1673 they were placed on Marquette's map as on the Missouri, above the Osages. After 

 the cession of Louisiana a treaty was made with them by the United States. They 

 were then on the river Kansas, at the mouth of the Saline, having been forced back 

 from the Missouri by the Sioux, and numbered about 1,500 in 130 earthen lodges. 

 Some of their chiefs visited Washington as early as 1320. In 1825 ceded their lands 

 on the Missouri, retaining a reservation on the Kansas, where they were constantly 

 subjected to attacks from the Pawnees, and on their hunts from other tribes, so that 

 they lost rapidly in numbers. In 184H they again ceded their lands, and a new re- 

 servation of 80,000 acres on the Neosho, in Kansas, assigned them; but this also soon 

 becoming overrun by settlers, and as they would not cultivate it themselves, it was 

 sold, and the proceeds invested for their benefit and for providing a new home among 

 the Osages in Indian Territory. The tribe in 1850 numbered 1,300; in 1860, 800; 

 and in 1875 had dwindled to 516. Under the guidance of Orthodox Friends they are 

 now cultivating 460 acres, and have broken more than as much again. They raised, 

 among other things, 12,000 bushels of corn. Seventy of them are regular church 

 attendants, and 54 of their children attend school. — W. H. Jackson, 1877. 



PRESENT LOCATION AND CONDITION, 1885-'8G. 



There were 245 Kaws, or Kansas, od Osage Agency, Indian Territory, 

 December, 1883. 

 Agent Miles, September 1, 1884, reported : 



The Kaws consist of 194 full bloods and 51 mixed bloods (in all, 245). The full 

 bloods are fast passing away. 

 Farmers and herders. 



August 20, 1885, Agent Miles reports : 



The Kaws number 225, of which 173 are full and 52 are mixed bloods. The full 

 bloods keep up their reputation for wandering about, visiting other Indians and the 

 State for the purpose of trading ponies, smoking, and begging, whichever seems best 

 to accomplish the end in view — that is, getting a living without physical exertion. 

 When at home, they display a commendable energy in trying to raise something to 

 subsist on 



The Kaws have better fields (than the Osages) and generally raise considerable corn 

 and vegetables. They suffer from late planting and proper care; from their ponies 

 being poor in the spring, and inattention to cultivating at the proper time. The 

 mixed bloods are most all farming to some extent, and many of them, with the assist- 

 ance of white men, have good farms and raise large crops of corn and millet. 



A number of them have herds of horses, and most of them have plenty of swine. 

 All have more or less ponies, in which they take great pride. 



Gradually decreasing. 



