56 



RECREA TION. 



During this dance all the donators, 

 at a given signal, rush into the ring, 

 bearing robes, blankets, provisions and 

 whatever else can be spared and de- 

 positing them in aheapinthe centre as a 

 contribution to their friends. Then 

 more dancing, singing, or chanting 

 rather, accompanied by a vigorous beat- 

 ing of the "tom-tom," — a rudely made 

 drum — follows, and the same scene is 

 repeated several times in succession, 

 until all those who are in need are 

 supplied. 



I found on my arrival all the warriors 

 dressed in gorgeous war bonnets of fur, 



WIK-SEE, A CHEYENNE BEAUTY. 



scarlet cloth and eagle feathers and 

 other barbaric attire, as well as lavishly 

 smeared with brilliant colored paints ; 

 some being covered with bright pea 

 green. They were the most hideous 

 looking mortals one could well con- 

 ceive of. The ceremonies lasted not 

 only through the whole afternoon, but 

 the dancing and feasting continued far 

 into the night in the different lodges. 

 Here, closely packed in the heated 

 atmosphere, the antics of these hcwling 

 demons resembled Pandemonium itself. 

 I was given a seat of honor on one of 

 the couches beside Whirlwind, Little 

 Robe and others and directly opposite 

 the musicians, (?) comprising a half- 

 dozen muscular fellows stripped to the 



waist. The space in the centre for 

 dancing was so contracted, that it was 

 with difficulty the dancers therein 

 managed to keep from scorching them- 

 selves in the fire, as they hopped up 

 and down, first on one foot and then on 

 the other, accompanying their gyrations 

 with a w T ierd " hi-yah ! hi-yah ! " and 

 terminating frequently with a yelping 

 " ow ! ow ! ow ! " in imitation of the 

 barking of the cayote. 



Occasionally a young brave from the 

 Sioux country would spring into the 

 cleared space and deliver himself of a 

 speech, one of which — as nearly as I 

 can recall — ran as follows : "My friends,, 

 look at me and listen. I have come 

 from the far off north country. The 

 E-Jw a-md-)wes (Sioux) living there are 

 going out, when the grass grows, to 

 right the long-knives. (JVote-he'-ahs.) 

 But we are their friends, (?) besides, we 

 are poor in horses." (Pause.) " But 

 we have a few ; for as we came down to 

 meet you, we met some Sac-Foxes and 

 killed them and took their horses to 

 help us." (A yell of delight ) " Then, 

 a little further on, we came across some 

 Shoshones and we did the same to 

 them." (Another yell.) " Then next 

 we saw a couple of Arapahoes, and we 

 killed them also." (Still another and 

 louder yell.) "And then we ran across 

 a party of black Pawnees, ( Tsay-mocJi- 

 tow-Ho-ve-ah-tans) and we shot them 

 like dogs, as they are ! " 



A succession of yells, howls and 

 screams of delight, as if from the in- 

 fernal regions, here greeted the orator,, 

 followed by all the dancers leaping into 

 the ring again and resuming the dance,, 

 to the frantic pounding of the " tom- 

 tom," as an evidence of their intense 

 satisfaction at the death of the hated 

 Pawnees. These are universally detested 

 as the champion horse-stealers of the 

 plains. It was long after midnight 

 when I rode back to my camp, yet all 

 night long did I hear that dull thumping 

 of the drum and the occasional yells of 

 the dancers, as if exhaustion were out 

 of the question with them. 



Shortly after this the weather mode- 

 rated greatly and the snow commenced 

 to disappear, much to the satisfaction 

 of the Che>ennes, since they had been 

 loosing sometimes as high as twenty to 

 twenty-five head of ponies in a night, 

 from cold and exhaustion ; the main 



