Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 March 1894 — Face Painting Among Indians. [ARTICLE]

Face Painting Among Indians.

There is a remarkable paucity of information on the subject of face painting in the books that purport to tell of the manners and customs of Indians. While its origin has been lost in the mist of ages, there is not a line or mark painted on an Indian’s face but has a meaning, full and complete. Not only is this true, but the marks are unchangeable and constant in the tribe from generation to generation, and are laid on with utmost exactness and greatest of care. The markings are of two kinds, tribal and individual. All tribes have peculiar markings for war paint, or for any ceremony that is to be performed, and when an Indian has finished the tribal decoration he places his own private mark in a conspicuous place. This is his family totem or its representative. When I was with the Sioux it was my fortune to witness the ceremonies attendant upon the application of war paint. A band of Crows had driven off a number of horses of the Sioux, and the Teton chief decided that it called for retaliation. The men who were to take part in the raid assembled about the fire and sang and danced until late in the night. A large amount of red ochre had been obtained from the ferruginous clay of the bad lands, and after this was mixed to a proper consistency the chief dipped a quantity with his left hand and carefully smeared his face with it from his eyes down, smoothing it evenly all over the lower part of the face, leaving the forehead untouched. As he did this he bowed to the fire and said: “As the fire has no mercy, so should we have none.” One by one the warriors stepped up and went through this ceremony, and then the chief placed a small patch of mud under each eye, saying: ‘ ‘My little grandfather is very dangerous as he makes his attempts. Very close do I stand as I go to the attack.” The “little grandfather” means a young buffalo bull, which the Tetons believe to have been the original progenator of the tribe. When the buffalo enters into a fight he gores the earth and gets mud on his cheeks. Following the chief again, the other members of the party put the patch of mud on their cheeks, repeating the formula, and then each man took from his private paint pouch a bit of charcoal and painted his individual totem sign on his face. When this was done all were ready for the battle.—[Globe-Democrat.