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Show The fiwt step will be to esleot the families or groups'of Indiana who ma to repre-sent their raspeotive tribes at the encampment. It is desired that the enoampment should be as thoroughly aboriginal in every reapeot as praoticable, and that the primitive traits and characteristi08 of the several tribes shonld be clistinatly aet forth. This point allould be constantly kept in view in the seleotion of the Indiana and in the collection of material. The Indiana choneu to atccnd muat be hill bloods, and sbonld be good type8 of their respective mihes, eo~naiaring profemhlg of leading man or chief" aud their fau)ilies. l'he lutrrr ahould ho nlatlu up of mnu, wife, nnal oue ur two (311d n*.v~mr ore rlnan rhrev) winor children. \bile it iadrsircd thar family groupm and fntuily life 4hould be uortrsgod, it wuuld be nroforabla rhdr at least a maioritr of the delecation eon- " - siat of adults. Only Indiana of good morala and habit8 should be selected, and moat important of a11 they must be striotlv temnerate. They ~honl,l ~ r l nn~n.ti ve drrds if pomible. Thev should a180 b r i n ~th eir uativn domiciles or the rnnrrriols with which to make thpm. Thcg ahonid also brinz rho necessarv article8 with which to furnish and decorate their teiees or other domiciles. As this will be a most interesting part of the exhibit the furnishing8 should be as attractive and complete as poaaibls. The neceseerg material8 for osrrging on their native art8 should i18,lso be brou-ght., ao that the-v ma+ sneaee in mekind aGticles for " u - - sale on the grounds. Where this can not be done they msy bring thitwa illustrative of their craft in ressonable qnantitlea for sale. Neoeasory cooking utensils should be bronght, and these should be as primitive a8 possible. A oollection of the implements and emblems of warfare would also he extremely interesting, and where it oan be arranged with any degree of ootnplatoneas it iasug-gested that suoh collection he brought. Articles to which a historical interest attaches for any reason should also be bronght if practiceble. The Indians will not, of course, he at %ny expense for transportation to or from the Exposition or for expenses of living while in attendance there, and they will be well cared for. Jnly 11,18QS, the Department detailed Oapt. W. A. Mercer, U. 8. A,, acting agent of the Omaha. and Winnebago Agency, Nebr., to install and conduct the congress of Indian tribes at the Exposition, and on July 13, 1898, granted iMr. J. R. Wise, a clerk in this office, leave of absence without pay and appointed him as assistant manager to aid Captain Mercer at O~naha. From Captain Mercer's report of Septem-ber 16 the following account of the congress is snmmarized: The work of installing the Indians was prosecuted with as much expedition as possible, and on August 4,1898, the Indian Congress was formally opened, and, although not nearly all of the Indian tribes which it was originally intended to have present were on the gronnds, the Indians in attendance and in the parade of that day numbered abont 460. "Indian Opening Day" was a complete success, and the attendance on that day had only once been exceeded during the progress of the . Exposition, and that was on July 4. There were present for that occa sion about 160 Omahas and about 46 Winnebagoeaall from the Omaha and Winnebago Agency. These were not intended as permanent dele-gations for the congress, and they returned to their reservations after remaining about ten days. Tlre Indians comprising the permanent delegation at that time numbered about 226, reprcsenting abont 15 tribes and 18 reservations. |
