CHRISTENING AN INDIAN BABY.—Yesterday afternoon an extraordinary scene was witnessed at St. Clement's Church, Salford, when the female child of the Sioux Indian "Little Chief," which was recently born in Buffalo Bill's camp, was christened in all the rites of the English Church. The entire body of Sioux and Apaché Indians at present located in the Wild West camp walked in procession to the church, which was filled to overflowing with a miscellaneous company, comprising Colonel and Miss Cody, [1] Major Burke, Buck Taylor, Cowboys, Mexicans, and other spectators. The baptism was performed by the Rev. J. J. Scott, the service being translated sentence by sentence by Broncho Bill, the Sioux interpreter. After the baptismal rites, the assembled body of Indians sang, "Nearer my God to Thee," in the Sioux tongue. This is the first time in the history of the English Church that American Indians have taken so prominent a part in the service.
Note 1: Arta Lucille Cody (1866-1904), the eldest daughter of Louisa and William F. Cody, sailed to England on her own in 1887 to join her father during Buffalo Bill's Wild West's first tour abroad. [back]
Title: Christening an Indian Baby
Periodical: Evening News
Source: McCracken Research Library, Buffalo Bill Center of the West , MS6.3679.03.03 (Stroebel scrapbook)
Date: February 16, 1888
Topics: Lakota Performers
Keywords: American Indians Apache Indians Baptism Church Cowboys Hymns Indian children Infant baptism Lakota dialect Mexicans Sioux Nation
People: Burke, John M., 1842-1917 Little Chief, b. 1851 Taylor, William Levi, 1857-1924
Place: Salford (Greater Manchester, England)
Sponsor: This project is supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Geraldine W. & Robert J. Dellenback Foundation.
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