Indian Boyhood | Page 5

my own grinding.
After I left my cradle, I almost walked away from it, she told me. She

then began calling my attention to natural objects. Whenever I heard
the song of a bird, she would tell me what bird it came from, something
after this fashion:
"Hakadah, listen to Shechoka (the robin) call- ing his mate. He says he
has just found some- think good to eat." Or "Listen to Oopehanska (the
thrush); he is singing for his little wife. He will sing his best." When in
the evening the whippoorwill started his song with vim, no further than
a stone's throw from our tent in the woods, she would say to me:
"Hush! It may be an Ojibway scout!"
Again, when I waked at midnight, she would say:
"Do not cry! Hinakaga (the owl) is watch- ing you from the tree-top."
I usually covered up my head, for I had perfect faith in my
grandmother's admonitions, and she had given me a dreadful idea of
this bird. It was one of her legends that a little boy was once stand- ing
just outside of the teepee (tent), crying vigor- ously for his mother,
when Hinakaga swooped down in the darkness and carried the poor
little fellow up into the trees. It was well known that the hoot of the owl
was commonly imitated by Indian scouts when on the war-path. There
had been dreadful massacres immediately following this call. Therefore
it was deemed wise to impress the sound early upon the mind of the
child.
Indian children were trained so that they hardly ever cried much in the
night. This was very ex- pedient and necessary in their exposed life. In
my infancy it was my grandmother's custom to put me to sleep, as she
said, with the birds, and to waken me with them, until it became a habit.
She did this with an object in view. An Indian must al- ways rise early.
In the first place, as a hunter, he finds his game best at daybreak.
Secondly, other tribes, when on the war-path, usually make their attack
very early in the morning. Even when our people are moving about
leisurely, we like to rise before daybreak, in order to travel when the air
is cool, and unobserved, perchance, by our enemies.
As a little child, it was instilled into me to be silent and reticent. This
was one of the most im- portant traits to form in the character of the
Indian. As a hunter and warrior it was considered abso- lutely
necessary to him, and was thought to lay the foundations of patience
and self-control. There are times when boisterous mirth is indulged in
by our people, but the rule is gravity and decorum.

After all, my babyhood was full of interest and the beginnings of life's
realities. The spirit of daring was already whispered into my ears. The
value of the eagle feather as worn by the warrior had caught my eye.
One day, when I was left alone, at scarcely two years of age, I took my
uncle's war bonnet and plucked out all its eagle feathers to decorate my
dog and myself. So soon the life that was about me had made its
impress, and already I desired intensely to comply with all of its
demands.
II: Early Hardships
ONE of the earliest recollections of my adventurous childhood is the
ride I had on a pony's side. I was passive in the whole mat- ter. A little
girl cousin of mine was put in a bag and suspended from the horn of an
Indian saddle; but her weight must be balanced or the saddle would not
remain on the animal's back. Accordingly, I was put into another sack
and made to keep the saddle and the girl in position! I did not object at
all, for I had a very pleasant game of peek-a- boo with the little girl,
until we came to a big snow-drift, where the poor beast was stuck fast
and began to lie down. Then it was not so nice!
This was the convenient and primitive way in which some mothers
packed their children for winter journeys. However cold the weather
might be, the inmate of the fur-lined sack was usually very
comfortable--at least I used to think so. I believe I was accustomed to
all the pre- carious Indian conveyances, and, as a boy, I en- joyed the
dog-travaux ride as much as any. The travaux consisted of a set of
rawhide strips secure- ly lashed to the tent-poles, which were harnessed
to the sides of the animal as if he stood between shafts, while the free
ends were allowed to drag on the ground. Both ponies and large dogs
were used as beasts of burden, and they