PRINCE INVESTED AS INDIAN CHIEF.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XLIX, Issue 13905, 5 November 1919, Page 6

PRINCE INVESTED AS INDIAN CHIEF.

■ (By Percivat Phillips.) BANFF, Alberta, Sept. 17. • Chief "Morning Star," otherwise the Prince of Wales, was formally acclaimed by-his loyal tribesmen the Stonev Indians on their reservation near Banff this morning. Wearing an elaborate headdress of feathers, presented to him with the buckskin bead-trimmed dress of a chief by the head of the tribe, Chief "Youii"' Thunder," the Prince was the centre of a strange and picturesque scene as h<? addressed the gaily decked Indians assembled in Ins honor. . , -n «■ The Prince's reception at Banit was unlike anything he has witnessed during his trip. When his tram entered the station at eleven o clock he found "Young Thunder' sitting like a graven image on his pony, holdin"- a. feathered banner and surrounded by a dozen painted braves in full dress. The returned soldiers of the district and the entire population of Banff, numbering 5,000 were also present. Led bv the North-West Mounted Police, the Prince's car swung round the winding road in the shadow of the Rockies, which towered into the sky on all sides. Behind him galloped the Indians, followed by a long, dusty procession of tourists in motorcars' and coaches, including a few enterprising . Americans, some of whom had "made the pilgrimage from Newport, New York, and even San Francisco for the privilege of sleeping one night beneath the same roof as the Frince. The route ran past the Government park, where buffalo, elk, and beaver are preserved. A herd of the former, assembled along the wire fence, stared wonderingly at the unusual spectacle. The Indian escort was augmented during the two-mile journey to the reservation by groups of waiting squaws in bright colored blankets and (jackets covered witli elk 'teeth, and waving/ feathered; headdresses. They were all riding ponies. Sonic were aged and others carried papooses strapped behind them. They wheeled in after the motor-cars, plunging madly in clouus of dust to keep up with the procession. A level field of grass, enclosed by rugged mountain peaks [,was the scene of the Prince's reception. The Indians had built a low platform for the Prince, carpeted with bunting, and gaily beflagged. Tiers of seats "nearby were filled with the remainder of the squaws j and families of the braves. More than 150 tribesmen, most of them in gala dress, reined in their horses, forming a semicircle round the Prince, and listened in dignified silence to the address read by ivli Wardie, superintendent of the National Park. Then "Young Thunder," imposing and grey-haired, striding towards the Prince in stately manner, bade him welcome in the Stoney dialect of the Cree language, followed with a translation in good English, and .handed him the dress of a chief. The braves, with shrill whoops, acclaimed him Chief "Morning Star," and then watched with expressionless faces while the Prince handled the costume curiously, and finally, with a shy smile, placed the headdress on his head. His face was half hidden amid the feathers, and a smile flickered over the painted countenances of the tribesmen at the contrast presented by the headgear and his lounge suit."A medicine dance" followed. "Young Thunder," still brandishing his feathered pole, stood in the centre of a revolving circle of braves and an outer circle of squaws, all moving slowly and in unison to a weird chant and the time of the drums beaten bv four men. After the dance came pony races, in which the squaws participated as well as the braves. The whole ceremony lasted an hour. The Prince afterwards visited the hospital in the town and spent the afternoon at golf. He staved overnight at the Banff hotel.

The Prince took part in a grout "round-up" during his stay earlier iu. the week at the. Bar-U Ranch, twenty miles from High River, Alberta. The ranch is one of the largest and finest among the foothills of the Rockies. The Prince spent part of the time in studying the organisation and watching tha employees at work. Wo impressed and delighted was he that, when signing the visitors' book, he added, under tiie heading of remarks, the comment ''Some ranch." Iu the morning he mounted a lively broncho and rode out with the cowboys, and participated in the work of separating the steers from the cows and calves, acting under the directions of Mr George Lane, the ranch owner. "He worked like a. Tro.jun," said one admiring cowboy. The Prince saw the cattle corralled, and concluded a hard morning's work by watching the branding of the calves. He was invited to try branding himself, but declined. It was altogether a strenuous day. The Prince began by running nearly ten miles before breakfast, and appeared just as fresh after the roundup. He tramped the hills all the afternoon shooting partridges, and motored back to High River early in the evening. Then he went to Calgary by train, and attended the military ball at Armouries, and danced until nearly two o'clock in the ltiornin "' ======