several days. They have for this purpose a " medicine " lodge where they spread a buffalo robe and plant a redpainted post; at the top of the lodge is tied a calf-skin containing all sorts of devices. There, to obtain the aid of the Great Spirit, they pierce their breasts, pass leather cords through, attach themselves to the post, and dance thus several times around the lodge to the sound of the drum, singing their warlike exploits and flourishing their
warclubs over their heads. Others make deep cuts under their shoulder-blades, run cords through the gashes, and drag two great buffalo heads to an eminence about a mile away from the village; there they dance until they drop senseless. A last offering before setting out consists in cutting off little pieces of flesh from different parts of their bodies, which they offer to the sun, the earth and the four cardinal points, to render the Manitous, or tutelary spirits, of the different elements favorable.
The Sioux who quarrels or dies in a state of drunkenness, or falls victim to the vengeance of a compatriot, does not receive the usual honors of burial; he is interred without ceremony and without provisions. To die in combat with the enemies of the nation is for them the most glorious death. In that case their bodies are wrapped in buffalo skins and placed upon scaffolds near to their camps or to the highways. I have every reason to believe, from several conversations upon religion that I have had with the chiefs of the different tribes, that a mission among them would have the most consoling results.
When I reached Fort Vermillion, a Santee war-party was just back from an excursion against my dear Potawatomies; they brought one scalp with them.. The murderers had blackened themselves from head to foot with the exception of their lips, which were rubbed with vermilion. Proud of their victory, they performed their dance in the midst of the camp, carrying the scalp on the end of
a long pole. I appeared all at once in their presence and