Indian Boyhood | Page 9

this Uncheedah was more acute than
most of the men. The abilities of her boys were not all inherited from
their father; indeed, the stronger family traits came obviously from her.
She was a leader among the native women, and they came to her, not
only for medical aid, but for advice in all their affairs.
In bravery she equaled any of the men. This trait, together with her
ingenuity and alertness of mind, more than once saved her and her
people from destruction. Once, when we were roaming over a region
occupied by other tribes, and on a day when most of the men were out
upon the hunt, a party of hostile Indians suddenly ap- peared. Although
there were a few men left at home, they were taken by surprise at first
and scarcely knew what to do, when this woman came forward and
advanced alone to meet our foes. She had gone some distance when
some of the men followed her. She met the strangers and offered her
hand to them. They accepted her friendly greeting; and as a result of
her brave act we were left unmolested and at peace.
Another story of her was related to me by my father. My grandfather,
who was a noted hunter, often wandered away from his band in search
of game. In this instance he had with him only his own family of three
boys and his wife. One evening,when he returned from the chase, he
found to his surprise that she had built a stockade around her teepee.
She had discovered the danger-sign in a single foot-print, which she
saw at a glance was not that of her husband, and she was also
convinced that it was not the foot-print of a Sioux, from the shape of
the moccasin. This ability to recognize foot- prints is general among the
Indians, but more marked in certain individuals.
This courageous woman had driven away a party of five Ojibway
warriors. They approached the lodge cautiously, but her dog gave
timely warning, and she poured into them from behind her defences the

contents of a double-barrelled gun, with such good effect that the
astonished braves thought it wise to retreat.
I was not more than five or six years old when the Indian soldiers came
one day and destroyed our large buffalo-skin teepee. It was charged
that my uncle had hunted alone a large herd of buffaloes. This was not
exactly true. He had unfortunately frightened a large herd while
shooting a deer in the edge of the woods. However, it was custom- ary
to punish such an act severely, even though the offense was accidental.
When we were attacked by the police, I was play- ing in the teepee, and
the only other person at home was Uncheedah. I had not noticed their
approach, and when the war-cry was given by thirty or forty Indians
with strong lungs, I thought my little world was coming to an end.
Instantly innumerable knives and tomahawks penetrated our frail home,
while bullets went through the poles and tent-fastenings up above our
heads.
I hardly know what I did, but I imagine it was just what any other little
fellow would have done under like circumstances. My first clear
realiza- tion of the situation was when Uncheedah had a dispute with
the leader, claiming that the matter had not been properly investigated,
and that none of the policemen had attained to a reputation in war
which would justify them in touching her son's teepee. But alas! our
poor dwelling was already an unrecognizable ruin; even the poles were
broken into splinters.
The Indian women, after reaching middle age, are usually heavy and
lack agility, but my grand- mother was in this also an exception. She
was fully sixty when I was born; and when I was seven years old she
swam across a swift and wide stream, carrying me on her back, because
she did not wish to expose me to accident in one of the clumsy round
boats of bull-hide which were rigged up to cross the rivers which
impeded our way, especially in the springtime. Her strength and
endurance were remarkable. Even after she had attained the age of
eighty-two, she one day walked twenty-five miles without appearing
much fa- tigued.
I marvel now at the purity and elevated senti- ment possessed by this
woman, when I consider the customs and habits of her people at the
time. When her husband died she was still compara- tively a young
woman--still active, clever and industrious. She was descended from a

haughty chieftain of the "Dwellers among the Leaves." Although
women of her age and position were held to be eligible to re-marriage,
and she had several persistent suitors who were men of her own age