The Mandans, of whom we shall hear much in the course of this narrative, the Sioux, and the Minatarees, are all distinguished by this peculiarity, though none of them possess it so abundantly as the Crows. When Mr. Catlin was staying among the Minatarees, a party of Crows came to visit them, and excited the admiration of their hosts by their magnificent hair. One of them possessed so picturesque an appearance that the artist traveller transferred him at once to canvas, and the engraver has reproduced the [sketch] for the reader on the 1284th page. The following is Mr. Catlin’s account of this splendid specimen of the North American Indian:—
“I think I have said that no part of the human race could present a more picturesque and thrilling appearance on horseback than a party of Crows rigged out in all their plumes and trappings—galloping about and yelling in what they call a war parade, i. e. in a sort of tournament or sham fight, passing rapidly through the evolutions of battle, and vaunting forth the wonderful character of their military exploits. This is an amusement of which they are excessively fond; and great preparations are invariably made for these occasional shows.
“No tribe of Indians on the continent are better able to produce a pleasing and thrilling effect in these scenes, not any more vain, and consequently better prepared to draw pleasure and satisfaction from them, than the Crows. They may be justly said to be the most beautifully clad of all the Indians in these regions, and, bringing from the base of the Rocky Mountains a fine and spirited breed of the wild horses, have been able to create a great sensation among the Minatarees, who have been paying them all attention and all honors for some days past.
“From amongst these showy fellows who have been entertaining us, and pleasing themselves with their extraordinary feats of horsemanship, I have selected one of the most conspicuous, and transferred him and his horse, with arms and trappings, as faithfully as I could to the canvas, for the information of the world, who will learn vastly more from lines and colors than they could from oral or written delineations.
“I have painted him as he sat for me, balanced on his leaping wild horse, with his shield and quiver slung on his back, and his long lance, decorated with the eagle’s quills, trained in his right hand. His shirt and his leggings, and moccasins were of the mountain-goat skins, beautifully dressed; and their seams everywhere fringed with a profusion of scalp-locks taken from the heads of his enemies slain in battle. His long hair, which reached almost to the ground while he was standing on his feet, was now lifted in the air, and floating in black waves over the hips of his leaping charger. On his head, and over his shining black locks, he wore a magnificent crest, or headdress, made of the quills of the war eagle and ermine skins, and on his horse’s head was another of equal beauty, and precisely the same in pattern and material.
“Added to these ornaments there were yet many others which contributed to his picturesque appearance, and amongst them a beautiful netting of various colors, that completely covered and almost obscured the horse’s head and neck, and extended over its back and its hips, terminating in a most extravagant and magnificent crupper, embossed and fringed with rows of beautiful shells and porcupine quills of various colors.
“With all these picturesque ornaments and trappings upon and about him, with a noble figure, and the bold stamp of a wild gentleman on his face, added to the rage and spirit of his wild horse, in time with whose leaps he issued his startling though smothered yelps, as he gracefully leaned to and fro, leaving his plume and his plumage, his long locks and his fringes, to float in the wind, he galloped about; and felt exceeding pleasure in displaying the extraordinary skill which a lifetime of practice and experiment had furnished him in the beautiful art of riding and managing his horse, as well as in displaying to advantage his weapons and ornaments of dress, by giving them the grace of motion, as they were brandished in the air and floating in the wind.”
Although the hair is generally black, it sometimes takes various colors, the Mandan tribe being the most remarkable for this peculiarity. Some of them, even though quite young, have the hair of a bright silver gray, or even white. The men dislike this kind of hair in their own sex, and when it occurs try to disguise it by a plentiful use of red or black earth mixed with glue. The women, on the contrary, are very proud of such hair, and take every opportunity of displaying its beauties. Generally a woman wears the hair in two plaits, which are allowed to fall down the back over on each side of the head; but when they wish to appear to the best advantage, they rapidly unplait it, pass their fingers through it in the manner of a comb, and spread it as widely as possible over the shoulders. They always part it in the middle and fill the line of parting with red paint.
The silver gray hair is remarkable for its coarseness, in which respect it seems like a horse’s mane, while the dark colored hair is quite soft. Among the Mandans almost every shade of hair is found between white, brown, and black, but there is never the least tinge of red in it.
The Mandan men have a curious habit of dividing their long hair into flat tresses, two inches or so in width, and filling each tress at intervals of an inch with vermilion and glue, so as to keep them separate. These patches of glue and earth become very hard, and are never removed. The hair thus treated is drawn tightly over the top of the head, and allowed to fall down the back in parallel tresses, which mostly reach to the knee, and in some cases to the ground.