 | Notes Among the Indians |  |
AN INDIAN VILLAGE.
We arrived at the Arapahoe camp about noon. About ninety lodges were scattered irregularly along the banks of a small stream, well-shaded with cotton-wood just budding into green.
Groups of warriors and children, with here and there a woman, could be seen among the tents. The lodges were made of buffalo skins, erected on poles about fifteen feet high, sugar-loaf shape, with openings fringed with the ends of the poles sticking up, and blackened with smoke at the top. A small oval opening served for a door, with movable skins to cover it from the cold or storms.
Before many of these tepes, were stuck up straight poles, about as long as a lance, with bright-colored flags, shields, or feathers—the mark or sign of the owner being within. Dogs and children abounded; the latter naked, the former over-furred. The children were lively, and seemed delighted to see us. The women were busy, as usual, at their conventional employments, dressing buffalo robes and cooking.
| Notes Among the Indians | |