Colorado—The Bright Romance of American HistoryGrable, F. C.
History
Colorado—The Bright Romance of American History
Grable, F. C.
Colorado -- History
The stoicism of the Indian is well known; but that trait of his
character has its qualifications. He shows the taciturn side of his
nature to strangers, but the world is not so serious as his austere
countenance would indicate. Among his own people he is a fun-loving,
story-telling, game-indulging human being. There are degrees in their
social status measured by what they have done and the property they
have accumulated. They have their ideas of propriety, and are shocked
that a man and woman should dance together. The men dance in a ring by
themselves, and the women dance in an outer ring, while a drum gives
accents to their movements. Usually they sing something mournful, its
weird rhythm following one for days.
A child is usually named by its father, who walks abroad from the tent
for that purpose, selecting the name of what he sees first that
impresses him most. So they have such peculiar names as Rain in the
Face, Yellow Mag-pie, Sleeping Bear, Thunder-cloud, Spotted Horse and
White Buffalo. However, there are no white buffalo. They are black
until the hot sun of each season fades the black to brown, which later
sheds, to come out black again. When a buffalo hide is tanned on both
sides, it becomes white, which gives rise to the name White Buffalo.
They have but one name other than their tribal name. The name "squaw"
was first found in the language of the Naragansett tribe of Indians
and is doubtless an abbreviation of the word "Esquaw." Other tribes
have their own peculiar name for women. The name squaw came into
general use and spread all over the United States and Canada, was
carried to the western tribes of Indians by the whites, and was used
by all whites and all Indians. A squaw man is one who does a woman's
work, or a white man who marries an Indian woman.
A youth does not tell a maiden of his love for her. That is told and
answered by heart telepathy in the old, old way. He tells his father,
who calls his relatives to a council and a feast, to consider the
matter. Then the young man's mother carries the proposal to the mother
of the maid, who tells it to the girl's father, and a meeting is
called by him of his relatives and friends, where there is much
feasting and speaking. The two mothers then meet, and accept for their
children. The girl prepares a dish and carries it to the tent of the
young man daily as a token of her intention to serve him all her days.
When the tepee is ready, and the presents accumulated, and house
keeping begins, they are husband and wife, all the former
preliminaries having constituted the wedding ceremony.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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