In Person They
Are Stout, Well Proportioned, And Have A Certain Air Of Dignity And Boldness.
In Their Dress They Differ Nothing From The Other Bands Of The Nation Whom
We Met Afterwards."
Of the Sioux let us say here, there are many bands, or subdivisions.
Some writers make eighteen of these principal branches.
But the first importance is given to the Sioux proper,
or Dakotas.
The name "Sioux" is one of reproach, given by their enemies,
and signifies "snake;" whereas "Dakota" means "friend" or "ally."
The Lewis and Clark journal says of the Yankton-Sioux: -
"What struck us most was an institution peculiar to them and to
the Kite (Crow) Indians further to the westward, from whom it is said
to have been copied. It is an association of the most active and brave
young men, who are bound to each other by attachment, secured by a vow,
never to retreat before any danger, or give way to their enemies.
In war they go forward without sheltering themselves behind trees, or aiding
their natural valor by any artifice. Their punctilious determination
not to be turned from their course became heroic, or ridiculous, a short
time since, when the Yanktons were crossing the Missouri on the ice.
A hole lay immediately in their course, which might easily have been
avoided by going around. This the foremost of the band disdained to do,
but went straight forward and was lost. The others would have followed
his example, but were forcibly prevented by the rest of the tribe.
These young men sit, camp, and dance together, distinct from the rest
of the nation; they are generally about thirty or thirty-five years old,
and such is the deference paid to courage that their seats in council
are superior to those of the chiefs and their persons more respected.
But, as may be supposed, such indiscreet bravery will soon
diminish the numbers of those who practise it; so that the band
is now reduced to four warriors, who were among our visitors.
These were the remains of twenty-two who composed the society not long ago;
but, in a battle with the Kite (Crow) Indians of the Black Mountains,
eighteen of them were killed, and these four were dragged from the field
by their companions."
Just above the site of the city of Yankton, and near
what is still known as Bon Homme Island, Captain Clark
explored a singular earth formation in a bend of the river.
This had all the appearance of an ancient fortification,
stretching across the bend and furnished with redoubts
and other features of a great fort. In the journal is given
a glowing account of the work and an elaborate map of the same.
Modern research, however, has proved that this strange
arrangement of walls and parapets is only a series of sand ridges
formed by the currents of the river and driftings of sand.
Many of these so-called earthworks are situated on the west
bank of the Upper Missouri, in North Dakota and South Dakota.
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