40 THE GEORGE CATLIN INDIAN GALLERY. 



24. Wa-hon-ga-shee, No Fool ; a very great fop. 



(Plate No. 132, page 23, vol. 2, Catlin's Eight Years.) 

 Used half the day in painting his face, preparing to sit for his picture. Painted 1831. 



25. Meach-o-shin-gaw, Little White Bear; a spirited and distinguished brave, with 



a scalping-knife grasped in his hand. 



(Plate No. 134, page 23, vol. 2, Catlin's Eight Years.) 



26. O-ron-gas-see, the Bear-catcher ; a celebrated warrior. 1831. 



27. Chesh-oo-hong ha, the Man of Good Sense; a handsome young warrior; style 



of his head-dress like the Grecian helmet. 1^31. 

 (Plate No. 135, page 23, vol. 2, Catlin's Eight Years.) 



28. Hon-je-a-put-o, a woman ; wife of O-ron-gas-see. 1831. 



Of IsTos. 24, 25, and 27, Mr. Catlin writes : 



Are portraits of distinguished Konzas (Kansas), and all furnishing striking instances 

 of the bold and Roman outline (see No. 22) that I have just spoken of. — G. C. 



In the Cartoon collection (p. 75) there are, on cartoons B, C, and D, "three distin- 

 guished warriors of the Kouza (Kansas) tribe, dressed and painted for war, their heads 

 shaved and ornamented with red crests, made of the hair of deers' tails, dyed red, and 

 horse hair — the uniform mode of the warriors of that tribe." — G. C, 1871. 



MR. CATLIN'S NOTES ON THE KANSAS INDIANS. 



The Konzas (Kansas), of 1,560 souls, reside at the distance of seventy or eighty 

 miles from this place, on the Konzas (Kansas) River, fifty miles above its union with 

 the Missouri, from the west. 



This tribe has undoubtedly sprung from the Osages, as their personal appearance, 

 language, and traditions clearly prove. They are living adjoining to the Osages at 

 this time, and, although a kindred people, have sometimes deadly warfare with 

 them. — 1831, George Catlin, page 23, vol. 2, Catlin's Eight Years. 



The custom of shaving the head, and ornamenting it with the crest of deer's hair, 

 belongs to this tribe, and also to the Osages, the Pawnees, the Sacs and Foxes, and 

 Ioways, and to no other tribe that I know of, unless it be in some few instances where 

 individuals have introduced it into their tribes, merely by way of imitation. With 

 these tribes the custom is one uniformly adhered to by every man in the nation, 

 excepting some few instances along the frontier, where efforts are made to imitate 

 white men by allowing the hair to grow out. 



In plate 135, No. 27, above (Chesh-oo-hong-ha), is a fair exhibition of this very 

 curious custom, the hair being cut close to the head as possible, except a tuft the size 

 of the palm of the hand, on the crown of the head, which is left 2 inches in length, 

 and in the center of which is fastened a beautiful crest made of the hair of the deer's 

 tail (dyed red) and horsehair, and oftentimes surmounted with the war-eagle's quill. 

 In the center of the patch of hair, which I said was left of a couple of inches in length, 

 is preserved a small lock, which is never cut, but cultivated to the greatest length 

 possible, and uniformly kept in braid, and passed through a piece of curiously 

 carved bone, which lies in the center of the crest, and spreads it out to its uniform 

 shape, which they study with great care to preserve. Through this little braid, and 

 outside of the bone, passes a small wooden or bone key, which holds the crest to the 

 head. This little braid is called in these tribes the " scalp-lock," and is scrupulously 

 preserved in this way, and offered to their enemy, if they can get it, as a trophy ; 

 which it seems in all tribes they are anxious to yield to their conquerors, in case they 

 are killed in battle, and which it would be considered cowardly and disgraceful for 

 a warrior to shave off, leaving nothing for his enemy to grasp for when he falls into 

 his hands in the events of battle. 



