Joseph Du Bray (born ca. 1872) entered Hampton in 1890 when he was approximately eighteen years old. The editorial note opening his essay suggests his classmates and school authorities considered him to be a model student. During his five years at Hampton, Du Bray was a frequent contributor to Talks and Thoughts. He also served a brief stint as an editor in 1892. After graduating from Hampton in 1895 he became a student at the Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia. He was ordained as a reverend and worked on the Pine Ridge and Sisseton reservations. (Littlefield and Parins, American Indian, 358; Littlefield and Parins, Biobibliography: Supplement, 203; Southern Workman, November 1919, 623)
Editorial Note: The following story was written by one of our Indian boys in a contest for a prize. He attended a mission school three years before coming here, this being his first year with us. We print it in his own words.
Before the Indians become civilized they used to have foolish accustoms. I will tell you a few of them. When a man some place in a family he has no right to call his father-in law’s name. If he does call his father-in-law’s name or his mother-in-law’s name, he will get his ears pulled. A man or a woman has no right to call his son-in-law’s name. For instance if Gen. Armstrong is your father-in-law, you have no right to say, “Where is Gen. Armstrong?” If you said this way you will get your ears pulled.
Here is another foolish accustom. If you go to an Indian woman and ask her, What is her name, she will not tell you, but she will point at her husband and tell you to ask him.
A lady has no right to get mad at her oldest brother. If a young lady get mad at her brother, the young man will go out where nobody see and kill himself.
Some Wanitipi (winter) in a valley. That is the Indians have so many (papa) dried meat that they do not need to move place to place, as they do when they have no papa. As the Indians wanitipi in a valley. A young lady get mad at her oldest brother. The young man didn’t kill himself, but he determined to go to the Padani tipi and get killed by the enemy. He started off by himself. After he took three days journey he came to a river. The banks are high and rocky. As he walked along the shore of the river he saw some rain-cloud coming from the west, so he looked for a refuge. It was almost sunset too. He went a little way up the river. He found a hole at the bank and he examined it. He made up his mind to stay there all night. After he went into the hole it began to rain hard as it could. Somebody come in and sit by him. The man was so afraid he fainted. After he sat there a little while he filled his pipe and smoked it. This man was a Padani.
The Sioux thought he would smoke too. He filled his pipe and smoked it. When morning came they came out of the hole and talked [to] each other with their hands, for Padani and Sioux are different languages. The Padani said: “Scalp me,” as he gave his knife to the Sioux. The Sioux said: “Yes I will,” as he sang the war-whoop—“Hi hi hi bi hi hi han.” He scalped the Padani.
Now [it was] the Padani’s turn to scalp the Sioux. As he got his knife back he sang the same war whoop and scalped him.
After they scalped each other they killed a deer and got the skin off. They cut the skin big enough to cover the wounded place to keep the blood from running. The Padani went home with the Sioux and he gave him 100 ponies. They made good friends by scalping each other.12
I heard an interesting story the other day. It was about crabs. There was once a council of crabs met together in a certain place and talked about this subject: How shall we make our children walk straight? They said that they are too old to learn how. So all the old crabs went home ready to tell their children how to walk straight.
One day one of the crabs tried to teach his child. He told the young crab how he must put one foot just in front of the other and walk straight. The young crab tried several times but didn’t succeed, because nobody show[ed] him how.
The young crab can learn how if he goes some where and stay with some one who know how and is able to show him day by day. After the young crab once learn he will always walk straight and be able to teach, or show, his brother how to walk straight. I am going to compare this story with the “Indian question.” The walking straight business is a very difficult lesson to learn. We all see that the young crab tried to walk straight but did not succeed because no one could show him how. We also see that the old crab had dreadful time to show his son, but yet he didn’t make his son walk straight because he does not know how himself.
The young crabs are the Indian youths and the old crabs are the old Indians. The old Indians want to make their children walk straight ahead through the path of civilization and Christianity. They tell their children and they try to show them how, but often times walk sideways instead of walk[ing] straight themselves.
The old Indians are too old to learn how to walk straight in the way of civilization, but the youths are not too old, therefore they need to go somewhere, where some one will not only teach, but show them.
If the Indian youths once learn how to walk straight, they will always do it and show their brothers or their race.
So, good walkers, come and show us how to walk the way of civilization.13
I am going to explain or tell you what [the] Sun Dance is. I was asked good many times by my northern friends while I was up there. Sun Dance is a kind of religious festival among the Indians of old times.
They meet together in a special place which is appointed by the greatest men of that time. This festival is held once a year. It comes on summer time when all the plants and flowers spread out their beautiful green leaves to the nice warm air and the sun light. The Indian name for Sun dance is Wiwanyag wacipi. Wi means sun, and wanyag means to see or looking, and Wacipi to dance. So it is really means, to look at the sun and dance. Their dance is kept for seven days only. The place in which this dance is held is made of branches of trees and bush. They also have a long pole right in the middle of the camp. This pole has good many ropes tied to it way on top.
These ropes hang down to the ground. When the dance is begun, some of the men cut a hole or two in their flesh just below the collar bone, and then take one or two of the ropes and tie it to the flesh where [it] is cut, and dance all day long. They keep their eyes on the sun from morning until night and at the same time they bless the Great Spirit. Some of the men cut holes in their backs and draw a head of a cow or a horse all day long. They do this to show their people that they can endure hardness and also to please the Great Spirit or their God who they thought have made the sun, moon and stars.14