Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 March 1894 — SIOUX ARE IN THE SWIM. [ARTICLE]

SIOUX ARE IN THE SWIM.

Fl ish with Money and Wear Fine Clothes, hot Still Eat Stewed Dog:. The Indians composing the Sioux nation are just now the happiest and most contented mortals in the country. This state of affairs is brought about by the distribution among them of tens of thou ands of dollars by the government, being the first payment made for ceding about a million acres of land to the government a few years ago. As a further payment for the land the Sioux will receive during the next few months large quantities of agricultural implements, thousands of horses, cattle, oxen, etc. The Indians who are entitled to their portion of the money and goods distributed, says a Chamberlain (S. D.) dispatch, are those at Pine Ridge, Rosebud, Santee, Flandreau, Lower Brule, Crow Creek, Forest City, Standing Rock and Ponca agencies. As a result of these cash payments the towns nearest the agencies have been filled of late with Indians of all ages, sexes and condition, who lost no time in exchanging their money for articles of various kinds. Although the government furnishes them with practically all the necessaries of life, the red man can find many ways of squandering his money. Among the first places visited when they are looking for investments are clothing, boot and shoe and dry goods ■ stores. They buy ginghams, calicoes of ' bright colors and flowered patterns, velvets, and occasionally silk for the squaws, and muslin, bright-colored > ishawls, trunks, valises, hats, children’s overshoes, beads, etc. Millinery stores | are also extensively patronized. It is.' only a short time before dealers are sold out of cigarettes, young Indians less than 10 years of age being as eager to smoke them as their elders. Scores of the Sioux are annually be-: coming more aristocratic, and in order to maintain the proper dignity, invest their surplus wealth in buggies and I double-seated carriages, the harnesses | on the horses being the best in the ' market, and the Indians preferring those with brass trimmings. Now that most of the Sioux are content to reside i in comfortable log or frame houses, 1 especially in the winter time, when the airy tepee is hardly sufficient to pro- I tect them against the rigors of the northern weather, they wish to make the interior of their dwelling as com-1 sortable and homelike as possible, and ' for this reason they are, when flush, ! gocd patrons of furniture stores. Here they purchase cupboards, bedsteads, j chairs and occasionally a baby car-: riage. Owners of newly purchased I baby carriages pi esent an amusing eight.. Coming from a store where he and his wife have just purchased a

handsome one, the Sioux takes the lead, wheeling the empty carriage, while his wife follows in the rear, bringing on her back a large-sized papoose. The Government furnishes the Indians with liberal supplies of meat of nearly all kinds, bub nevertheless, they expend large sums for this while in the border towns. During the present pilgrimage one Indian visited a local meat market and purchased pork to the amount of $13.50. During these visits of the Indians it is remarkable how many stray dogs disappear from the street 5 . A visit to the ‘.emporaiy Indian village in the outskirts of the town and an inspaction of the contents of the large iron kettles steaming and boiling over the bright fires would solve the mystery. When the last strav dog has disappeared into the iron kettles of the Sioux, and subse uently into the stomachs of the red man and his friends, the Indians stroll through the residence portion of the town and watch for dogs that are large and fat. When such a cur is discovered the Indians ascertain the owner, go to him or her and offer to buy the animal. Dog soup is still a favorite dish with the Sioux, and probably will be for many generations to come. An Indian will cut his hair, wear white man's clothes, adorn himself with a white shirt collar and necktie, cover his head with a stovepipe hat, shine his shoes occasionally, but he is not yet prepared to relinquish his craving for dog soup. After several days of trading and sightseeing the Indians return quietly to their reservations, empty in pocket, but rich in this world’s goods. Their money is all gone, but they know the Great Father will give them more in the future.