The Aboriginal Entertainment
Daily Alta California October 23, 1864, p. 1
The Metropolitan Theater was pretty well filled yesterday afternoon by an
audience composed almost entirely of ladies and children curious to see real live Indians
on the stage. After the performance, by a rather slim orchestra, of a number of airs,
supposed to be adapted to all sorts of entertainments from those of the Martinetti troup to
the Menken Maseppa escapade, the curtain was raised, disclosing a parlor scene with the
whole of the aboriginal family arranged in the following order: The centre group was
compose of Winnemucca, high old Chief of the Pi-Utes, with his two daughters, Lo-meto-na, or the Shell Flower, and Te-woo-to-na or the Lattice flower seated in state on a
sofa. The Old Chief was dressed in a suit of what might have been brown cloth or wellworn buckskin with some odd kind of stage sword belt, studded with tin buttons, thrown
over his shoulder and a head-dress more nearly resembling an enormous mop than
anything else we can compare it to—in fact he would have created quite a sensation in
torch-light procession of Broom Rangers. The young ladies or “squaw” so to speak in
the vernacular were attired in yellow buckskin hunting shirts and leggings of time timehonored stage style, the only difference in there “get-up” being in the height of the
rainbow-hued feathers of their a la Montezuma head-gear. The dress although not at all
resembling what they wear “at home” from our own experience in the desert, was well
calculated to display their native charms and graces to the best advantage. To the right
and left ranged four deep with their arms at rest upon tables placed there for that purpose
were the eight “braves” who according to the big posters, for small programs were not
furnished, rejoiced in the following elegant and euphonious names: Too-poo-we, or
Natchez; Song-a-wee or Martin the Bird; Noe-won-natalee, the Snow Cloud; Poo-at-sai,
the Doctor; Poo-e-quatsee, Foliage of the Forest; Pass-e-yon, White Water; O-a-waquat-see, Sun and Moon and Too-near-need the Black Devil. These warriors were all
rigged out in a curious uniform costume as far as red shirts and headdresses resembling
feather dusters went, but the neither extremities disclosed a varied make-up of buckskin,
leggings, cotton tights, cassimere pants, moccasins, high lows and brogans that would
doubtless be worn by “injuns” whether “Pi-Utes or Diggers—if nothing better offered.
Which of the “braves” was Snow Cloud, White Water, or Black Devil, we were unable
to distinquish, as they were not tabled or stamped and we concluded that the fanciful
nomenclature was all hosh, put in to fill the bill. Then to think of Shell Flower being
mistaken for Lattice Flower or of passing the gentle pair as Wall Flowers! And where in
the world of sand drifts, sage clumps and alkali waters did Mr. and Mrs. Winnemucca
ever see a lattice on which to train a flower? We confess to being euchred with the left
bower, i.e. Lattice Flower and wish we had passed. The Royal Family were introduced
to the audience by a gentleman in black (all but his boots which lacked the color) as
Winnemucca, Chief of the Pi-utes, and his two daughters. Royal Family bowed. The
audience returned a rapturous greeting. Warriors to the right and left of us also
presented. The eight arose from their seats as one man made a mechanical half-military
salute-half-Oriental salaain(?) and subsided. The gentleman in black then read a lecture
on Pi-utes and “any other Indians”, which sounded in its delivery like a school boy’s
production and spoke of pale faces, red men, tented plains, warriors with a hundred
wounds, etc. It was intended, however to be highly eulogistic of the Great Chief, but the
only thing we could clearly catch was something about a gun that had been presented to
him by the whites and which he pronounced a “d___d” good gun.” This the lecturer
repeated and emphasized and therefore it must have been so spoken by the old Chieftain.
The lecture finally came to an end and after intermission of five minutes the tableaux
vivants with the accompaniments of forest scenery and Greek fire, were introduced in
the following order” The Indian Camp” “The Message of War”, “The War Council”,
“The War Dance”, “The Capture of Bannock Spy” “Scalping the Prisoner,” “Grand
Scalp Dance:”, “Scalping of an Emigrant Girl by a Bannock Scout”. “The Wounded
Warrior”, “The Coyote Dance” And a series of two tableax representing Pocahontas
saving the life of Captain John Smith…
The crowning feature of this unique entertainment was the address in Pi-ute
dialect by Winnemucca and interpreted by one of his daughters. …Shell in very good
English said
“My father says he is very glad to see you; He has heard a great deal about San
Francisco and wanted very much to see it; so he has come to see it for himself!”
His part of the speech being loudly applauded by the appreciative audience the
old fellow became inspired and rattled off at such a telegraphic rate that we couldn’t
come up with him at all. Note so with Shell Flowers; she had been there and knew just
what to say and it came to us in her sweet English voice to this effect: “My father says
he is glad to see so many of you here and he hopes there will be a great many more tonight, when he hopes to accommodate you, I mean please you better.” The curtain fell
amidst the most rapturous applause from the ladies and the Pi-Ute War whoop from the
boys. The aboriginal entertainment was over. People like novelty, let them have it. Opera
and minstrels will pale after a season of two and if we do go now and then to seen an
aboriginal entertainment or a Chinese theatrical troupe, whose business is it? We would
like to know.