THE GEORGE CATLIH INDIAN GALLERY. 341 



494. Dog Feast, Sioux ; a religious feast. Given to Mr. Sanford (Indian agent), Mr. 

 Cboteau, Mr. McKenzie, and myself in a Sioux village 1,400 miles above 

 Saint Louis, 1832. The only food was dog's meat, and this is the highest 

 honor they can confer on a stranger. Painted at a Sioux village at the 

 mouth of Teton River, 1832. 



(Plate No. 96, page 228, vol. 1, Catlin 7 s Eight Years.) 



After I had been several weeks busily at work with my brush in this village, and 

 pretty well used to the modes of life in these regions, and also familiarly acquainted 

 with all the officers and clerks of the establishment, it was announced one day that 

 the steamer which we had left was coming in the river below, where all eyes were 

 anxiously turned and all ears were listening, when at length we discovered the puffing 

 of her steam, and at last heard the thundering of cannon which were being fired from 

 her deck. 



The excitement and dismay caused amongst six thousand of these wild people 

 [Sioux] when the steamer came up in front of their village was amusing in the ex- 

 treme. The steamer was moored at the shore, however, and when Mr. Chouteau and 

 Major Sanford, their old friend and agent, walked ashore, it seemed to restore their 

 confidence and courage, and the whole village gathered in front of the boat, without 

 showing much further amazement or even curiosity about it. 



The steamer rested a week or two at this place before she started on her voyage 

 for the headwaters of the Missouri, during which time there was much hilarity and 

 mirth indulged in amongst the Indians, as well as with the hands employed iu the 

 service of the Fur Company. The appearance of a steamer in this wild country was 

 deemed a wonderful occurrence, and the time of her presence here looked upon and 

 used as a holiday. Some sharp encounters amongst the trappers ; who come in here 

 from the mountains, loaded with packs of furs, with sinews hardened by long ex- 

 posure, and seemingly impatient for a, fight, which is soon given them by some bully- 

 ing fisticuff fellow, who steps forward and settles the matter in a ring, which is made 

 and strictly preserved for fair play, until hard raps and bloody noses and blind eyes 

 "settle the hash" and satisfy his trappership to lay in bed a week or two, and then 

 graduate a sober and a civil man. 



Amongst the Indians we have had numerous sights 'and amusements to entertain, 

 and some to shock us. Shows of dances, ball plays, horse-raciug, foot-racing, and 

 wrestling in abundance. Feasting, fasting, and prayers we have also had, and pen- 

 ance and tortures, and almost everything short of self-immolation. 



Some few days after the steamer had arrived, it was announced that a grand feast 

 was to be given to the great white chiefs who were visitors amongst them, and prep- 

 arations were made accordingly for it. The two chiefs brought their two tents 

 together, forming them into a semi-circle, inclosiDg a space sufficiently large to ac- 

 commodate one hundred and fifty men, and sat down with that number of the prin- 

 cipal chiefs and warriors of the Sioux nation, with Mr. Chouteau, Mr. Sanford, the 

 Indian agent, Mr. McKenzie, and myself, whom they had -invited in due time, and 

 placed on elevated seats in the center of the crescent, while the rest of the company 

 all sat upon the ground, and mostly cross-legged, preparatory to the feast being dealt 

 out. 



In the center of the semi-circle was erected a flag-staff, on which was waving a 

 white flag, and to which also was tied the calumet, both expressive of their friendly 

 feelings towards us. Near the foot of the flag-staff were placed in a row on the 

 ground, six or eight kettles, with iron covers on them, shutting them tight, in which 

 were prepared the viands for our voluptuous feast. Near the kettles, and on the 

 ground also, bottom side upwards, were a number of wooden bowls, in which the meat 

 was to be served out; and in front, two or three men, who were there placed as 

 waiters, to light the pipes for smoking, and also to deal out the food. 



In these positions things stood, and all sat, with thousands climbing and crowding 

 around for a peep at the grand pageant, when at length Ha-wan-je-tah (the one 



