30
THE CHEMAWA AMERICAN
simply side by side, each dancer stamping up and down.
Every once in a while an expert Indian dancer would dance alone;
it was plain to see that his efforts were appreciated. One of them,
whose fame was great, had come over 400 miles from Canada to be pre
sent at the festivities.
Late in the afternoon the visitors left, but not before many of them
had received little presents and had given some article or money in re
turn. When an Indian makes a gift you know, the recipient must al
ways give something in return. It is not selfishness on the part of the
Indian; quite the contrary. But it is a custom and a courtesy among
them.
For instance, one of the party of visitors was presented with a fine
beadwork hat band and, having nothing else with him save a pen-knife,
he gave the Indian a $10 bill. Straightway the Indian stripped his
brightly colored blanket from his shoulders and extended it to the visi
tor. Then he offered his bead-emroidered rifle case—which, of course
did not contain a rifle, since Uncle Sam will not permit firearms on a
reservation The Indian, you see, was determined not to be outdone in
generosity!
All during the day the American flag was much in evidence and the
Indians seemed to havesome idea of the meaning of the words “ Fourth
of July,” though the writer feels quite certain that they by no means
grasped its full significance. But, in all, it was a queer celebration of the
“ Fourth” and one the writer will long remember.
VICIOUS FRAUDS
COMMON SCHEME FOR ROBBING TH E IN D IA N S
'OR so long a time has the Indian been prey for un
scrupulous white men that it is looked upon as more
or less a common occurrence to hear of dirty deals.
Those in the Indian service are not able to protect
the Indian, the department has not known of the
____________ crooked deals. From an exchange we reprint an
article in the hope that our Indian friends, apprised
in this way, will take heed and defeat the aims of grafters as set forth,
as follows:
The schemes of the grafter to separate the Indian from his money
and his lands are many. For downright lawlessness and shrewd chi
canery the practices of the past have been without parallel in this
country. For instance, one of the commonest frauds practiced has