Note 164 — LETTER III

This custom of human sacrifice appears to have been confined to the Skidi or Loup band of Pawnee, and to have been abolished only with much difficulty. James's Long's Expedition, in our volume xv, pp. 151-155, relates the rescue of one such captive in 1817, and the apparent abolition of the custom. John T. Irving, Jr., Indian Sketches (Philadelphia, 1835), ii, pp. 146-153, describes an ineffectual attempt in 1831 to rescue a captive designed for this fate. The account given by De Smet of the sacrifice of 1837 appears to be authentic. Dunbar (op. cit. in preceding note) says that the last known instance occurred in April, 1838; but probably it has been repeated since. See also George B. Grinnell, Pawnee Hero Stories and Folk Tales (New York, 1893), pp. 363-369; and George A. Dorsey, "Traditions of the Skidi Pawnee," in American Folk Lore Society Publications (Boston, 1904), viii.—Ed.