Indian galloping on horseback
A Fantasy from the Pony War Dance

Among the many interesting features of the pageant given on special occasions by the Blackfoot Indians on their reservation in Canada, the most spectacular is the Pony War Dance, or the Departure for Battle. In this scene about sixty young men take part, riding horses as wild as themselves. The acting is fierce—not like the conduct of a mimic battle on our stage—but performed with the desperate zest of men who hope for distinction in war.

Illustration from
CHARTERING A NATION
by Julian Ralph

Originally published in
Harper’s Magazine, December, 1891
Scout on horseback