Annuity day is a great event in the life of every Agency Indian, and if the reader would see Indian life represented in some of its most interesting features, there is no more suitable time to select for a visit to any Agency.  It is a “grand opening,” attended by the whole tribe; but the squaws do not enjoy quite the freedom of choice in the matter of dress goods, or receive such prompt attention from the clerks as our city ladies are accustomed to.  Even at 9 o’clock in the morning, notwithstanding the fact that the actual distribution would not take place until noon, the nation’s wards are there, patiently waiting for the business of the day to begin.  Stakes have been driven into the ground to mark the space to be occupied by each band, and behind them, arranged in a semicircle, are the different families, under the charge of a head man.  The bands vary in numbers, both of families and individuals, but they all look equally solemn as they sit on the ground, with their knees drawn up under their chins, or cross-legged like Turks and tailors.

The scene now becomes one of bustle and activity on the part of the Agency people, who begin rapidly filling wagon after wagon with goods from the store-houses.  Blankets of dark blue material, cotton cloth, calico of all colors and patterns, red flannel, gay woolen shawls, boots and shoes that make one’s feet ache to look at them, coffee pots, water buckets, axes, and numerous other articles, are piled into each wagon in the proportion previously determined by conference with the head men.  A ticket is then given to the driver, bearing the number of the stake and the name of the head man.  Away goes the wagon; the goods are thrown out on the ground in a pile at the proper stake, and that completes the formal transfer to the head man, who then takes charge of them, and, with, the assistance of a few of the bucks designated by himself, divides the various articles, according to the wants of the families and the amount of goods supplied.

During the rush and fury of the issue and division of the goods, the sombre figures in the background have scarcely moved.  Not one has ventured to approach the center where the bucks are at work, measuring off the cloth, etc.; they are waiting for the tap of the bell, when they will receive just what the head man chooses to give them.  There is no system of exchange there; it is take what you get or get nothing.  In a great many cases they do not use the goods at all, but openly offer them for sale to the whites, who, no doubt, find it profitable to purchase at Indian prices.