A Brief History of South Dakota/Chapter 10
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 right shoulder, and across the left is slung a quiver of arrows. They wear gay coronets of plumes, particularly 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 wailings 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 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.