INTRODUCTION

The 27 Sioux songs on this record were selected from a total of 340 songs recorded by the writer in a study of Sioux music conducted for the Bureau of American Ethnology. They represent the several classes of songs and show the connection between music and various tribal customs.

The study of Sioux music was begun in July 1911 on the Sisseton reservation in the northeastern part of South Dakota. Central Indians from this locality had recently attended a gathering of Chippewa in Minnesota where they had met the writer and had become acquainted with her work by talking with Chippewa who had recorded songs. They were favorably impressed and commended the work to their friends on returning home. Thus she did not go among the Sioux as a stranger.

The Sioux on the Sisseton reservation belong chiefly to the Santee division of the tribe, and the words of their songs are in the Santee dialect. It was found that the material was limited and a competent interpreter was not available. Therefore after a month the work was transferred to the Standing Rock reservation, in the central part of North Dakota and South Dakota, where it was continued until 1914. The principal interpreter on this reservation was Robert P. High-eagle, a member of the Sioux tribe and a graduate of Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute and of the business department of Carnegie College. To this work he brought a knowledge of Sioux life and character without which an interpretation of the deeper phases of the songs could not have been obtained. He also enjoyed the friendship of the old men and had a knowledge of the idioms in both languages. During a month's work at McLaughlin, S. Dak., Mrs. James McLaughlin kindly acted as interpreter. She was the widow of Major McLaughlin of the United States Indian Service and lived in that village.

The method of collecting songs was similar to that used among the Chippewa, the songs being recorded by a spring phonograph. It should be borne in mind when listening to these records that they were made under field conditions and intended only for the use of the collector. The primary purpose was the preservation of the songs, but many native mannerisms will be heard in these recordings.

SONGS OF THE SUN DANCE

The element of physical pain which ennobled this ceremony in the mind of the Indian has overshadowed the ceremony's significance in the mind of the white man. The Indian endured that pain in fulfillment of a vow made to Wakan'tanka (Great Spirit) in time of anxiety or danger, generally when on the warpath. The Sun Dance was held annually by the Sioux, and vows made during the year were fulfilled at that time. Chase-by-Bears, an informant on the subject, told of meeting a hostile Arikaree Indian far from home. He knew that his life was in danger and prayed to Wakan'tanka, saying "If you will let me kill this man and capture his horse with this lariat, I will give you my flesh at the next Sun Dance." He returned safely and carried the lariat when suspended by the flesh of his right shoulder at the next Sun Dance. Such were the vows of all who took part in the Sun Dance.

This subject was studied and 33 of its songs recorded at Fort Yates on the Standing Rock reservation in 1911, among the Teton and Yanktonai Sioux. One of the informants was Lone Man who had taken part in the Sun Dance twice and had 100 scars on each arm. He said this was "sacred talk" and "there should be at least 12 persons present so that no disrespect would be shown, and that no young people should be allowed to come from curiosity." Accordingly, the writer summoned 15 men from all parts of the reservation to discuss the subject. Thirteen had fulfilled vows in the dance, one had fulfilled a similar vow on his way home from war (the gashes being cut by a man who had taken part in the Sun Dance), and the 15th man was Mato'wata'kpe (Charging Bear), a prominent Teton who was best known as John Grass. Noted as a successful leader of war parties against other tribes, John Grass was the principal speaker for the Sioux tribe in several treaties with the government. He had been chosen to select the Sun Dance pole but had never made a Sun Dance vow. In addition to these men, about 40 others were interviewed in order to obtain data from persons who had witnessed the dance as well as from those who had taken part in it.

The subject was discussed in conferences and we visited the place where the final Sun Dance of these bands was held in 1882. The scars were still on the prairie as they were still on their bodies. The 15 men identified the place where the Sun Dance pole had stood; near it lay a broken buffalo skull that had been used in the ceremony.

About a month before a Sun Dance, the medicine men prayed for fair weather. They sang, burned sweet grass, and offered their pipes to the sky, the earth, and the cardinal points. One of their songs was recorded, Red Bird saying it had come down from Dreamer-of-the-Sun, who died about 1845. It was said that the oldest men could not remember the falling of rain during a Sun Dance.

At the time of the dance, the people camped in a great circle and the Sun Dance pole was erected in the middle of this circle. The leading men belonged to various military societies and they held meetings and danced during the time before the Sun Dance. Their dances were known as Braves' dances.