Full Text of "A Brief History of South Dakota", pages 61-66

	This file contains part of a full transcription of "A Brief 
	History of South Dakota", by Doane Robinson, Secretary of the 
	State Historical Society of South Dakota. Originally published 
	in 1905, it was republished many times through the 1930's. This 
	transcription is from the 1919 Edition.

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                               [PICTURE]
                           A SIOUX WAR PARTY


                               CHAPTER X

                        A PATRIOTIC CELEBRATION

   WHILE the parties of Hunt and Lisa were staying at the Ree towns, a great 
patriotic celebration occurred there, which is described in detail by Washington 
Irving. No one of the pretentious towns or cities of to-day could welcome her 
sons home from the wars with more pomp and circumstance, more of feasting and 
rejoicings, than did these primitive South Dakotans.

   "On the 9th of July, just before daybreak, a great noise and vociferation was 
heard in the village. This being the usual Indian hour of attack and surprise, 
and the Sioux being known to be in the neighborhood, the camp was instantly on 
the alert. As the day broke Indians were descried in considerable number on the 
bluffs three or four miles down the river. The noise and agitation in the 
village continued. The tops of the lodges were crowded with the inhabitants, all 
earnestly looking toward the hills and keeping up a vehement chattering.  
Presently an Indian warrior galloped past the camp [of Mr. Hunt] toward the 
village and in a little while the legions began to pour forth.

   "The truth of the matter was now ascertained. The Indians upon the distant 
hills were three hundred Arickara [Ree] braves returning from a foray. They had 
met the war party of Sioux who had been so long hovering about the neighborhood, 
had fought them the day before [that is, July 8, 1811], killed several, and 
defeated the rest, with the loss of but two or three of their own men and about 
a dozen wounded; and they were now halting at a distance until their comrades in 
the village should come forth to meet them and swell the parade of their 
triumphal entry. The warrior who had galloped past the camp was the leader of 
the party hastening home to give tidings of his victory.

   "Preparations were now made for this great martial ceremony. All the finery 
and equipments of the warriors were sent forth to them, that they might appear 
to the greatest advantage. Those, too, who had remained at home tasked their 
wardrobes and toilets to do honor to the procession.

   "The Arickaras generally go naked, but, like all savages, they have their 
gala dress, of which they are not a little vain. This usually consists of a gray 
surcoat and leggings of the dressed skin of the antelope, resembling chamois 
leather, and embroidered with porcupine quills brilliantly dyed. A buffalo robe 
is thrown over the rigbt shoulder, and across the left is slung a quiver of 
arrows. They wear gay coronets of plumes, particulariy those of the swan; but 
the feathers of the black eagle are considered the most worthy, being a sacred 
bird among the Indian warriors. He who has killed an enemy in his own land is 
entitled to drag at his heels a fox skin attached to each moccasin, and he who 
has slain a grizzly bear wears a necklace of his claws, the most glorious trophy 
that a hunter can exhibit.

   "An Indian toilet is an operation of some toil and trouble; the warrior often 
has to paint himself from head to foot, and is extremely capricious and 
difficult to please as to the hideous distribution of streaks and colors. A 
great part of the morning, therefore, passed away before there were any signs of 
the distant pageant. In the meantime a profound stillness reigned over the 
village. Most of the inhabitants had gone forth; others remained in mute 
expectation. All sports and occupations were suspended, excepting that in the 
lodges the painstaking squaws were silently busied in preparing the repasts for 
the warriors.

   "It was near noon that a mingled sound of voices and rude music, faintly 
heard from the distance, gave notice that the procession was on the march. The 
old men, and such of the squaws as could leave their employments, hastened forth 
to meet it. In a little while it emerged from behind a hill, and had a wild and 
picturesque appearance as it came moving over the summit in measured step and to 
the cadence of songs and savage instruments; the warlike standards and trophies 
flaunting aloft, and the feathers and paint and silver ornaments of the warriors 
glaring and glittering in the sunshine.

   "The pageant had really something chivalrous in its arrangement. The 
Arickaras are divided into several bands, each bearing the name of some animal 
or bird, as the buffalo, the bear, the dog, the pheasant.  The present party 
consisted of four of these bands, one of which was the dog, the most esteemed in 
war, being composed of young men under thirty and noted for their prowess. It is 
engaged on the most desperate occasions. The bands marched in separate bodies 
under their several leaders. The warriors on foot came first, in platoons of ten 
or twelve abreast; then the horsemen.  Each band bore as an ensign a spear or 
bow decorated with beads, porcupine quills, and painted feathers.  Each bore its 
trophies of scalps, elevated on poles, their long black locks streaming in the 
wind.  Each was accompanied by its rude music and minstrelsy. In this way the 
procession extended nearly a quarter of a mile. The warriors were variously 
armed, some few with guns, others with bows and arrows and war clubs; all had 
shields of buffalo hide, a kind of defense generally used by the Indians of the 
open prairie, who have not the covert of trees and forests to protect them.  
They were painted in the most savage style.  Some had the stamp of a red hand 
across their mouths, a sign that they had drunk the life blood of a foe.

   "As they drew near to the village the old men and the women began to meet 
them, and now a scene ensued that proved the fallacy of the old fable of Indian 
apathy and stoicism.  Parents and children, husbands and wives, brothers and 
sisters, met with the most rapturous expressions of joy; while wailings and 
lamentations were heard from the relatives of the killed and wounded. The 
procession, however, continued on with slow and measured step, in cadence to the 
solemn; chant, and the warriors maintained their fixed and stern demeanor.

   "Between two of the principal chiefs rode a young warrior who had 
distinguished himself in the battle. He was severely wounded, so as with 
difficulty to keep on his horse, but he preserved a serene and steadfast 
countenance, as if perfectly unharmed. His mother had heard of his condition. 
She broke through the throng and, rushing up, threw her arms around him and wept 
aloud. He kept up the spirit and demeanor of a warrior to the last, but expired 
shortly after he had reached his home.

   "The village was now a scene of the utmost festivity and triumph. The banners 
and trophies and scalps and painted shields were elevated on poles near the 
lodges. There were war feasts and scalp dances, with warlike songs and savage 
music; all the inhabitants were arrayed in their festal dresses; while the old 
heralds went round from lodge to lodge, promulgating with loud voices the events 
of the battle and the exploits of the various warriors.

   "Such was the boisterous revelry of the village," Irving continues; "but 
sounds of another kind were heard on the surrounding hills: piteous w4hngs of 
the women who had retired thither to mourn in darkness and solitude for those 
who had fallen in battle. There the poor mother of the youthful warrior who had 
returned home in triumph but to die gave full vent to the anguish of a mother's 
heart. How much does this custom among the Indian women, of repairing to the 
hilltops in the night and pouring forth their wailings for the dead, call to 
mind the beautiful and affecting passage of Scripture, 'In Rama was there a 
voice heard, lamentation and weeping for her children, and great mourning; 
Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted because they are 
not.' "  

   Those of the readers of this history who recall the great festival throughout 
South Dakota upon the return of the First Regiment from the Philippine war will 
appreciate the fact that it was entirely in line with a time-honored precedent 
among the people of the South Dakota land.