Page:A Brief History of South Dakota.djvu/69

Rh 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