Civilization has a very peculiar effect upon the American Indian.  The schools for Indian children are well managed, and the education imparted should be sufficient to prevent the possibility of a relapse into the unsatisfactory habits and the traditional uncleanliness of the different tribes.  Sometimes the effect of education is excellent.  There are many Indians to be found who have adopted civilized modes of living, and who have built up homes and amassed little fortunes by farming, raising cattle and trading.  Some of the Indians, notably those of the five civilized tribes or nations in Indian Territory, resemble white men in appearance very much.  They will sometimes work side by side with swarthy Caucasians, whose skin has been tanned by exposure to the sun, and except for the exceptionally high cheek bone and the peculiarly straight hair, there is little to distinguish the Indian from the white man.

But these cases are exceptions to the general rule, which is that education is looked upon by Indians as a degradation rather than otherwise.  Great difficulty is often experienced in persuading parents to allow their children to be taken to the training schools at all, and so much compulsion is often necessary that an appearance of kidnaping is imparted.  The first thing that is done with an Indian boy or girl admitted to one of these schools, is to wash the newcomer with considerable vigor from head to foot, and to cut off the superfluous, and, generally speaking, thickly matted hair.

The comfort of short hair, neatly combed and brushed, seldom impresses itself upon the youthful brave.  For obvious reasons this is, however, insisted upon, and while the boy is at school he is kept neat and clean.  Directly, however, he returns to his tribe he is in danger of relapsing into the habits of his forefathers.  Too often he is sneered at for his neatness.  His short hair is looked upon as an offense, and he is generally willing to fall in with tribal fashions, abandon his neat clothing, and let his hair grow and his face accumulate the regulation amount of dust and dirt.

The Indian trader and the pioneer generally will tell you that the only good Indian is a dead Indian.  He will repeat this adage until it becomes wearisome in its monotony.  Then, perhaps, he will vary it by telling you that of all the mean Indians the educated one is the meanest.  This is only true in some instances, but it is a fact that education does not invariably benefit the Indian at all.

Almost all Indians are passionately fond of dancing.  Several books have been written descriptive of the various dances of different tribes.  Some of them have a hidden meaning and dangerous significance, while others are merely for the purpose of amusement and recreation.  For these dances the Indians generally put on the most fancy costumes they have, and their movements are sometimes graceful and sometimes grotesque.  The sign dance, as seen in some of the Southwestern