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al copy, ptlori the tgrosslng □grossed Supposed £d upon for enJllE FIESII Of HOGSla on the , when 11 not pul Will the i chances the error 1. As It 00.88 and mo whenre over and IbeIs Sacrificed by a Wierd People • in Tama County, Iowa. •THEY ARE THE MUSKWAKIThese Indians Have an Orleulal Appearance and Treat iho Whiles Like Coinmon Beggars-They aro Highly -'Ioral and Dignified.“1 lolMrn kIbdco od «»l Is ly positive y. Ciimfi s coniiltu-' li uven lu-admucons nflog the lie psttent end iMlit-leton bsrelUi-yofler8p9Cl»l Correspondence lo the Times.. .Washington,” May 16. The government's- atteution- was lately called to a atrange people, known as the Maskwaki, occupying a small tract of land lnthe-oa6tern centml parinf Tow. Although the Muskwukl havB._for._.rnaD^._year8 been close neighbors of tbe wbitee, they have always held themselves strangely aloof from the latter. Tboy have ever been peaceful, and to all ap pearancea law abiding, yel ihe wh!te3 have never been able to know them, to exchange gossip with thorn, nor even to corrupt them.Prof. W. J. McGee, a well known ethnologist and explorer of this city, has just returned from an interesting visit to lliese people, made on behalf of tbe government’s Bureau of Ethnology. The professor .Is tbe first ethnologist who haa evor presumed bo much as to study the Musk wakl, and is in all probability the first white .man who has ever been, extended any hospitality by them.The territory of this string* racelles In a bit.of picturesque county principally along the bottom of tbe Iowa river, in iho southern part of Tama county, Iowa. The several remarkable little winter and summer villages occupied by the different clansorgenfl are distributed both among the lowlands and the adjacent hills. The Miiskwaki number in all four hundred souls, who occupy three thousand acres, all their own. Their agriculture is purely aboriginal, the crops consisting principally of the aboriginal Indian corn, beans and pumpkins, such as cultivated by thelr. anceators long before the advent of tbe whites. Their ooly domo8ticatcdanii.iul8 are ponies and dogs, tbe latter being bred both for use In their religious ceremonials and as a sort .of emergency ration. • . ' •.The ethnologist, who received your 'correspondent' immediately after his re-’ turn, describes the Muskwakl as strictly Aboriginal, clinging to the customs of their ancestors more tenaciously than even more Isolated tribes.. They havono end to.strange customs and beliefs. One of these Is their sacrifice of dogs as an important part of certain religious ceremonials. To them the dog 1b a sacred animal, and for that reaeon it Is deemed fitting that now and then Its life should be made an offering lo. the deity. In certain rituals the dog’s llesh is eaten. Prof. McGee expects to return to their region during one of their dog foasts and then will make a careful study of the odd re-paBt, If permitted to do so by the dignitaries of the tribe. The religious beliefs of these people are particularly sacred to them. Their ceremonials are much more elaborate than those of any of the Christian churches. . The Maskwaki have an exaggerated aversion to whbe peoplo. They, treat whites coming to their villagca as we commonly treat ordinary street beggars. This contempt is not expressed In threats nor actual deeds of violence, but rather by cohdescontion and hauteur. Professor McGee, however, was not so mach the victim of this disposition as would be the ordinary white man. It was understood by them that he came in the capacity of chief, representing tbe*United States Government.The Maskwaki object to having their children educated in the ageacy school, because there they must associate with white children. They say that the white Children attending are fi'ot always honest, that they hava b'eeD known to be deceitful and sly. and sometimes lo lloand tako .things, which do jio.t. strictly belong.to them. Honesty is one of the prevailing virtues of the Maskwaki. They say that white children come to their village, throw stones at them, laugh at them and-sometimoB enter their houses without being bidden. Their own papooses shall not be brought up with any such manners. It Is rare that the Musk wakl of either sex Intermarries with the whites. There have been but six cases since the tribe has lived among the whites. They have made no Illegitimate mixture of blood whatever with the whites.• These people hava excellent pbysiqueB and great statureB. Their mode of life Is In nearly every respect aboriginal. They dress more like Mongols than red men, wearing odd turbans woven of hemp and bark, while the women, and to some extent the men, part their hair In the middle and let It hang down their back! In a long pig-tail, which, unlike the Chinese pig-tall, Is rolled instead of platted. ThlB roll Is generally an Inch In diameter, a foot loDg and 18-closely twisted with cord. - • • •' .....VThe Mu9kwakl house Is also strictly ab original. Each fatnily or collecUou of families has Us distinct summer and win ter residence. The winter booses are built In the forest, that they may beprotected by the trees, while the summer houses are lo the cleared lands. The winter house consists prlmarly of a framework of poles, bont to form a semi-ellpsoid, covered with large pieces of coarse malting, woven uniformly from stalks of the cat-tall-0ag. This matting adds to the. oriental sppearance of the community. There is a smoke-hole In the middle of the roof of the ordinary single house, which has a single fireplace immediately below the opening. The elnglo bouse is occupied by two families, one of which liveB on one uldp and the other on tbe opposite side of the flieplace. The double houses are nrnnnrtlnnntelv rraator inshe, have two fireplaces and are cccuplet by three or four families. - The doorway is At the eastern oud-of each house, that It may admit the QrBt rays of Iho son which planet Is the prlnolpal god-of tho tribe. Should oneot the tri^b kill a man In honorable combat his doorway must faco the sooth. In these winter abodes tb*$Iu8kwakl sloep upon the ground, re-olluing on 8trlp3 of matting smaller tfian those of the walls and roofs and more closely woven, being made from bull rusheB. Very often these Bleeping mats are highly colored. 'The summer houaeB consist of logs set up In the ground, supporting stringers, the.6idea and roof being made by slabs of bark, fastened with cord twisted out of the under bark. Inside tbe occupants -flleepjipon.platforccs. being thus raised to admit a circulation of air. In front of Aach-..summer abodo and about ten feet distant Is aUayo erecteJ-u large platform, upon nliich lUe..Uv0*do lecliun. screened from .the san by a sort of brush canopy. This Is used us Is the porch of one of oar summer residences. The houses, both summer and winter, are clustered In little groups or villages, each of-which belongs to a certain clan or gens.The main object of Prof. McGee's trip was to study the fundamental laws of the Muskwakl. He appealed to the chief functionaries of the tribe for Information concerning these. To answer his appeal a council was called attended by the feigning chief of the tribe, the chief med icine man, nine of -theold-mon, the cabinet. so to speak, and tbe professor and his interpreter. Tbe procedure in this august geeting consisted principally of sllonce and smoking, the monotony of which was. occasionally broken by a very deliberate speech on the part of one of the dignitaries. Every word was carefully considered before being uttered, and, according to tbe ethnologist, excellent dl8cretlon-wa8-dUpl«ty?d in nvery.. speech. When a speech was regarded favorably It was applauded by a strange gutteral exclamation, while an eloquent silence expressed disapproval. Tbe outcome of the council was a very dignified and courteous announcement by the presiding chief,- 'that. under no condition could the sacred laws of tho Mnskwaki be revealed to the palefaces. After the adjournment of the. council,.the professor went about among the houses of tho villages, simply as a visitor, and was able to obtain a number of interesting specimens of their workmanship. He always rofnaed to purchase any urenella-op Implements, unless Its full-history was first related to him. What he regards as the most valuable specimen thus obtained is an odd dish, carved from a knot of wood with a carved-steel knjfe. This could oply be sold after a council had been held. It was a sacred religious relic. Threo generations ago a Maskwaki chief killed two Sioux wor-riors, returning with their heads. The victory wife thereupon made the bowl in-queallon, and attached the head, .one at either end, to it. These beads are represented by two knob-iiko handles, bearing a crude semblance of the human face upon each. It was firmly believed that every time food was eaten from this dlsb, tbe strength and valor of the two Sioux was partaken of by the eater.Professor McGee Bays that Maskwaki, In English, meaos either .“red earth” or red fox.” The white people commonly and erroneously speak of them as a branch of the Sac and Fox tribe, becauso of a false Impression the Sac and Fox Indians, are always grouped together as though they were one tribo. Althoogh belonging to thiTsame linguistic stock, they wore never related. - They were sometimes merely confederated for war purposes, especially against the 8loux. When the wbitos beganJo overrun their territory, the Sacs went on the war path against them, but the Foxes never, became, virtually, involved, being wise enough to sde that they could not cope with the whites. After this the Sacs always characterized the Foxes as cowards. After having been removed together to the reservations, part In Kansas and part in Indian territory, coldness continued to grow between'the two tribes. Finally, all of the Foxes removed to the present territory of the Muskwakl. The Muskwakl really are the Foxes, although the Sacs remaining on the reservations are always called the Sac and Fox Indians.,John Ewantu Wathsns, Jb.TALK OF THE TOWNConcerning the HlBtorlco-Patrlotlc Societies und tho Commemoration of the Trent Name.In the language of tbe day some of tbe hlstorlco-patrlotlc societies seem to be having “troubles of thelrVown. The recent friction In tho management'of the Colonial Dames and the old disputes between the Sous of the Revolution and the Sons -of- the American Revolution are patent' evidences of this fact. * In this charging of the atmosphere with patriotic electricity, storiAB may be expected and a general clarification will result..And this reminds me that In the metropolis of the west . Chicago the growth.of, the colonial and revolutionary organizations have been rapid. Attracting much attention it is scarcely necessary for me to say tbat the newspaper comment has been most entertaining. Borne breesy bits fly eastward, and among them, which have come to my attention, the following Is well worth reduplication. I present it as a sample of tbe pure, unadulterated comment carr.ent io Chicago: ; ;“Now that we have appropriately celebrated Easter and discharged creditably our rellgloua.obllgaUona, those of us who are so fortunate os to have desoended from an honorable line of early Americans may turn our attention to our patriotic rites. We may choose from this formidable array of societies: Sons of ihe Revolution, Sons of the American Revolution, Sons of the Pilgrims, Bona of the Cavaliers, Daughters of the Revolu-11i n OnlnnUl Dumas Damrftteri of Pooa-M
Newspaper Details
Trenton Evening Times
Trenton, New Jersey, US
Sat, May 15, 1897
Page 4
Full Page
Clipped by
Johnathan B.
IA, USA 28 Nov 2017
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Trenton Evening Times
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