him, with a bright smile and a light heart, that she had talked with
dear Starlight, and had kissed her sweet rosy mouth again; and Sunbeam
was once more her father's bright and happy little Indian girl.
HOW THE STONE-AGE CHILDREN PLAYED
BY CHARLES C. ABBOTT
NOT long since I wandered along a pretty brook that rippled through a
narrow valley. I was on the lookout for whatever birds might be
wandering that way, but saw nothing of special interest. So, to while
away the time, I commenced geologizing; and, as I plodded along my
lonely way, I saw everywhere traces of an older time, when the sparkling
rivulet that now only harbors pretty salamanders was a deep creek,
tenanted by many of our larger fishes.
How fast the earth from the valley's slopes may have been loosened by
frost and washed by freshet, and carried down to fill up the old bed of
the stream, we will not stop to inquire; for other traces of this older
time were also met with here. As I turned over the loose earth by the
brook-side, and gathered here and there a pretty pebble, I chanced upon
a little arrow-point.
Whoever has made a collection, be it of postage stamps or birds' eggs,
knows full well how securing one coveted specimen but increases
eagerness for others; and so was it with me that pleasant afternoon.
Just one pretty arrow-point cured me of my laziness, banished every
trace of fatigue, and filled me with the interest of eager search; and I
dug and sifted and washed the sandy soil for yards along the brook-side,
until I had gathered at least a score of curious relics of the
long-departed red men, or rather of the games and sports and pastimes of
the red men's hardy and active children.
[Illustration: THE HATCHET]
For centuries before Columbus discovered San Salvador, the red men (or
Indians, as they are usually called) roamed over all the great continent
of North America, and having no knowledge of iron as a metal, they were
forced to make of stone or bone all their weapons, hunting and
household implements. From this fact they are called, when referring to
those early times, a stone-age people, and so, of course, the boys and
girls of that time were stone-age children.
But it is not to be supposed that, because the children of savages, they
were altogether unlike the youngsters of to-day. In one respect, at
least, they were quite the same--they were very fond of play.
Their play, however, was not like the games of to-day, as you may see by
the pictures of their toys. We might, perhaps, call the principal game
of the boys "Playing Man," for the little stone implements, here
pictured, are only miniatures of the great stone axes and long
spear-points of their fathers.
In one particular these old-time children were really in advance of the
youngsters of to-day; they not only did, in play, what their parents did
in earnest, but they realized, in part, the results of their playful
labor. A good old Moravian missionary says: "Little boys are frequently
seen wading in shallow brooks, shooting small fishes with their bows and
arrows." Going a-fishing, then, as now, was good fun; but to shoot
fishes with a bow and arrow is not an easy thing to do, and this is one
way these stone-age children played, and played to better advantage than
most of my young readers can.
Among the stone-age children's toys that I gathered that afternoon, were
those of which we have pictures. The first is a very pretty stone
hatchet, very carefully shaped, and still quite sharp. It has been
worked out from a porphyry pebble, and in every way, except size, it is
the same as hundreds that still are to be found lying about the fields.
No red man would ever deign to use such an insignificant-looking ax, and
so we must suppose it to have been a toy hatchet for some little fellow
that chopped away at saplings, or, perhaps, knocked over some poor
squirrel or rabbit; for our good old Moravian friend, the missionary,
also tells us that "the boys learn to climb trees when very young, both
to catch birds and to exercise their sight, which, by this method, is
rendered so quick that in hunting they see objects at an amazing
distance." Their play, then, became an excellent schooling for them; and
if they did nothing but play it was not a loss of time.
The five little arrow-points figured in the second picture are among
those I found in the valley. The ax was not far away, and both it and
they may have belonged to the same bold and active young hunter. All of
these arrow-points are very neatly made.
[Illustration: ARROW-HEADS]
The same missionary tells us that these young red men of the forest
"exercise themselves very early with bows and arrows, and in shooting at
a mark. As they grow up, they acquire a remarkable dexterity in shooting
birds, squirrels, and small game."
Every boy remembers his first penknife, and, whether it had one or three
blades, was proud enough of it; but how different the fortune of the
stone-age children, in this matter of a pocket-knife! In the third
picture is shown a piece of flint that was doubtless chipped into this
shape that it might be used as a knife.
I have found scores of such knives in the fields that extend along the
little valley, and a few came to light in my search that afternoon in
the brook-side sands and gravel. So, if this chipped flint is a knife,
then, as in modern times, the children were whittlers.
[Illustration: FLINT KNIFE]
Of course, our boys nowadays would be puzzled to cut a willow whistle or
mend the baby's go-cart with such a knife as this; but still, it will
not do to despise stone cutlery. The big canoe at the Centennial, that
took up so much room in the Government Building,--a boat sixty feet
long,--was made in quite recent times, and only stone knives and
hatchets were used in the process.
I found too, in that afternoon walk, some curiously shaped splinters of
jasper, which at first did not seem very well adapted to any purpose;
and yet, although mere fragments, they had every appearance of having
been purposely shaped, and not of accidental resemblances to a hook or
sickle blade. When I got home, I read that perfect specimens, mine being
certainly pieces of the same form, had been found away off in Norway;
and Professor Nilsson, who has carefully studied the whole subject, says
they are fish-hooks.
Instead of my broken ones, we have in the fourth illustration some
uninjured specimens of these fish-hooks from Norway. Two are made of
flint, the largest one being bone; and hooks of exactly the same
patterns really have been found within half a mile of the little valley
I worked in that afternoon.
The fish-hooks shown in our picture have been thought to be best adapted
for, and really used in, capturing cod-fish in salt water, and perch and
pike in inland lakes. The broken hooks I found were fully as large; and
so the little brook that now ripples down the valley, when a large
stream, must have had a good many big fishes in it, or the stone-age
fishermen would not have brought their fishing-hooks, and have lost
them, along this remnant of a larger stream.
But it must not be supposed that only children in this bygone era did
the fishing for their tribe. Just as the men captured the larger game,
so they took the bigger fishes; but it is scarcely probable that the
boys who waded the little brooks with bows and arrows would remain
content with that, and, long before they were men, doubtless they were
adepts in catching the more valuable fishes that abounded, in Indian
times, in all our rivers.
So, fishing, I think, was another way in which the stone-age children
played.
[Illustration: FISH-HOOKS]
GAMES AND SPORTS OF THE INDIAN BOY
BY DR. CHARLES ALEXANDER EASTMAN
[These are actual recollections of the wild life.
The Indian boy whose experiences are described
wrote them out himself many years afterward when,
having graduated at Dartmouth College and the
Boston University School of Medicine, he had
become an educated man, and a physician among his
own people.]
THE Indian boy was a prince of the wilderness. He had but very little
work to do during the period of his boyhood. His principal occupation
was the practising of a few simple but rigid rules in the arts of
warfare and the chase. Aside from this, he was master of his time.
Whatever was required of us boys was quickly performed; then the field
was clear for our games and plays. There was always keen competition
between us. We felt very much as our fathers did in hunting and
war--each one strove to excel all the others. It is true that our savage
life was a precarious one, and full of dreadful catastrophes; however,
this never prevented us from enjoying our sports to the fullest extent.
As we left our tepees in the morning, we were never sure that our scalps
would not dangle from a pole in the afternoon! It was an uncertain life,
to be sure. Yet we observed that the fawns skipped and played happily
while the gray wolves might be peeping forth from behind the hills,
ready to tear them limb from limb.
Our sports were molded by the life and customs of our people--indeed, we
practised only what we expected to do when grown. Our games were feats
with the bow and arrow, foot and pony races, wrestling, swimming, and
imitations of the customs and habits of our fathers. We had sham fights
with mud balls and willow wands, we played lacrosse, made war upon bees,
shot winter arrows (which were used only in that season), and coasted
upon ribs of animals and buffalo-robes.
Our games with bow and arrow were usually combined with hunting; but as
I shall take hunting for the subject of another letter, I will speak
only of such as were purely plays.
No sooner did the boys get together than they divided into squads, and
chose sides; then a leading arrow was shot at random into the air.
Before it fell to the ground, a volley from the bows of the
participants followed. Each player was quick to see the direction and
speed of the leading arrow, and he tried to send his own with the same
speed and at an equal height, so that when it fell it would be closer
than any of the others to the first.
It was considered out of place to shoot an arrow by first sighting the
object aimed at. This was usually impracticable, because the object was
almost always in motion, while the hunter himself was often on the back
of a pony in full gallop. Therefore, it was the offhand shot that the
Indian boy sought to master. There was another game with arrows which
was characterized by gambling, and was generally confined to the men.
The races were an every-day occurrence. At noon the boys were usually
gathered by some pleasant sheet of water, and as soon as the ponies were
watered, they were allowed to graze for an hour or two, while the boys
stripped for their noonday sports. A boy might say, "I can't run, but I
challenge you for fifty paces," to some other whom he considered his
equal. A former hero, when beaten, would often explain his defeat by
saying, "I had drunk too much water!" Boys of all ages were paired for
a "spin," and the little red men cheered on their favorites with spirit!
As soon as this was ended, the pony races followed. All the speedy
ponies were picked out, and riders chosen. If a boy said, "I cannot
ride," what a shout went up! Such derision!
Last of all came the swimming. A little urchin would hang to his pony's
long tail, while the latter held only his head above water and glided
sportively along. Finally the animals were driven into a fine field of
grass, and we turned our attention to other games.
Lacrosse was an older game, and was confined entirely to the Sisseton
and Santee Sioux. Shinny, such as is enjoyed by white boys on ice, is
now played by the western Sioux. The "moccasin-game," although sometimes
played by the boys, was intended mainly for adults.
The "mud-and-willow" fight was rather a severe and dangerous sport. A
lump of soft clay was stuck on one end of a limber and springy willow
wand, to be thrown with considerable force--as boys throw apples from
sticks. When there were fifty or a hundred on each side, the battle
became warm; but anything to arouse the bravery of Indian boys seemed to
them a good and wholesome sport.
Wrestling was largely indulged in by all of us. It may seem odd, but the
wrestling was by a great number of boys at once--from ten to any number
on a side. It was really a battle, but each one chose his own opponent.
The rule was that if a boy sat down, he was let alone; but as long as he
remained standing within the field he was open to an attack. No one
struck with the hand, but all manner of tripping with legs and feet and
hurting with the knees was allowed; altogether it was an exhausting
pastime--fully equal to the American game of foot-ball. Only the boy who
was an athlete could really enjoy it.
One of our most curious sports was a war upon the nests of wild bees. We
imagined ourselves about to make an attack upon the Chippewas or some
other tribal foe. We all painted and stole cautiously upon the nest;
then, with a rush and a war-whoop, sprang upon the object of our attack
and endeavored to destroy it. But it seemed that the bees were always on
the alert, and never entirely surprised; for they always raised quite as
many scalps as did their bold assailants! After the onslaught upon the
bees was ended, we usually followed it by a pretended scalp-dance.
On the occasion of my first experience in this mode of warfare, there
were two other little boys who also were novices. One of them,
particularly, was too young to indulge in such an exploit. As it was the
custom of the Indians, when they killed or wounded an enemy on the
battle-field, to announce the act in a loud voice, we did the same. My
friend Little Wound (as I will call him, for I do not remember his
name), being quite small, was unable to reach the nest until it had been
well trampled upon and broken, and the insects had made a counter charge
with such vigor as to repulse and scatter our numbers in every
direction. However, he evidently did not want to retreat without any
honors; so he bravely jumped upon the nest and yelled:
"I, brave Little Wound, to-day kill the only fierce enemy!"
Scarcely was the last word uttered when he screamed as if stabbed to the
heart. One of his older companions shouted:
"Dive into the water! Run! Dive into the water!" for there was a lake
near by. This advice he obeyed.
[Illustration: INDIAN BOYS PLAYING "FOLLOW MY LEADER"]
When we had reassembled and were indulging in our mimic dance, Little
Wound was not allowed to dance. He was considered not to be in
existence--he had been "killed" by our enemies, the Bee tribe. Poor
little fellow! His tear-stained face was sad and ashamed, as he sat on a
fallen log and watched the dance. Although he might well have styled
himself one of the noble dead who had died for their country, yet he was
not unmindful that he had _screamed_, and that this weakness would be
apt to recur to him many times in the future.
We had some quiet plays which we alternated with the more severe and
warlike ones. Among them were throwing wands and snow-arrows. In the
winter we coasted much. We had no "double-rippers" nor toboggans, but
six or seven of the long ribs of a buffalo, fastened together at the
larger end, answered all practical purposes. Sometimes a strip of
bass-wood bark, four feet long and half a foot wide, was used with much
skill. We stood on one end and held the other, using the inside of the
bark for the outside, and thus coasted down long hills with remarkable
speed.
Sometimes we played "Medicine Dance." This to us was almost what
"playing church" is among white children. Our people seem to think it an
act of irreverence to imitate these dances, but we children thought
otherwise; therefore we quite frequently enjoyed in secret one of these
performances. We used to observe all the important ceremonies and
customs attending it, and it required something of an actor to reproduce
the dramatic features of the dance. The real dances usually occupied a
day and a night, and the program was long and varied, so that it was not
easy to execute all the details perfectly; but the Indian children are
born imitators.
I was often selected as choirmaster on these occasions, for I had
happened to learn many of the medicine songs, and was quite an apt
mimic. My grandmother, who was a noted medicine woman, on hearing of
these sacrilegious acts (as she called them), warned me that if any of
the medicine men should learn of my conduct, they would punish me
terribly by shriveling my limbs with slow disease.
Occasionally we also played "white man." Our knowledge of the pale-face
was limited, but we had learned that he brought goods whenever he came,
and that our people exchanged furs for his merchandise. We also knew,
somehow, that his complexion was white, that he wore short hair on his
head and long hair on his face, and that he had coat, trousers, and
hat, and did not patronize blankets in the daytime. This was the picture
we had formed of the white man. So we painted two or three of our number
with white clay, and put on them birchen hats, which we sewed up for the
occasion, fastened a piece of fur to their chins for a beard, and
altered their costume as much as lay within our power. The white of the
birch-bark was made to answer for their white shirts. Their merchandise
consisted of sand for sugar, wild beans for coffee, dried leaves for
tea, pulverized earth for gunpowder, pebbles for bullets, and clear
water for dangerous "fire-water." We traded for these goods with skins
of squirrels, rabbits, and small birds.
When we played "hunting buffalo" we would send a few good runners off on
the open prairie with meat and other edibles; then start a few of our
swiftest runners to chase them and capture the food. Once we were
engaged in this sport when a real hunt by the men was going on near by;
yet we did not realize that it was so close until, in the midst of our
play, an immense buffalo appeared, coming at full speed directly toward
us. Our mimic buffalo hunt turned into a very real "buffalo scare"! As
it was near the edge of a forest, we soon disappeared among the leaves
like a covey of young prairie-chickens, and some hid in the bushes while
others took refuge in tall trees.
In the water we always had fun. When we had no ponies, we often had
swimming-matches of our own, and we sometimes made rafts with which we
crossed lakes and rivers. It was a common thing to "duck" a young or
timid boy, or to carry him into deep water to struggle as best he might.
I remember a perilous ride with a companion on an unmanageable log, when
we both were less than seven years old. The older boys had put us on
this uncertain bark and pushed us out into the swift current of the
river. I cannot speak for my comrade in distress, but I can say now that
I would rather ride on a wild bronco any day than try to stay on and
steady a short log in a river. I never knew how we managed to prevent a
shipwreck on that voyage, and to reach the shore!
We had many curious wild pets. There were young foxes, bears, wolves,
fawns, raccoons, buffalo calves, and birds of all kinds, tamed by
various boys. My pets were different at different times, but I
particularly remember one. I once had a grizzly cub for a pet, and so
far as he and I were concerned our relations were charming and very
close. But I hardly know whether he made more enemies for me or I for
him. It was his custom to treat unmercifully every boy who injured me.
He was despised for his conduct in my interest, and I was hated on
account of his interference.
[Illustration: COPY IN BLACK AND WHITE OF A COLOR-DRAWING BY AN INDIAN
BOY]
AN OLD-TIME THANKSGIVING
BY M. ELOISE TALBOT
LITTLE PRUDENCE stood by the window, with her face pressed hard against
it. She was not looking out; she could not do that, for the
window-frame, instead of being filled with clear panes of glass, had
oiled paper stretched tightly across it.
It was a very curious window, indeed, and it transmitted a dull light
into a very curious room. The floor was of uncovered boards; the walls
were built of logs of wood with the bark still clinging to them in
places, and overhead were great rafters from which hung suspended many
things--swords and corselets, coats, bundles of dried herbs, pots and
pans.
The furniture was very simple. In the center of the room was a wooden
table, scoured to whiteness, stiff-backed chairs were ranged against the
wall, and a dresser, where pewter cups and platters stood in shining
rows, adorned the farther corner. In a wide chimney-place a royal fire
was blazing, and before it stood Prudence's mother, carefully stirring
some mixture in an iron pot which hung upon a crane. Within the circle
of the firelight, which played upon her yellow hair and turned it to
ruddy gold, Mehitable, Prudence's sister, stepped rapidly to and fro,
her spinning-wheel making a humming accompaniment to the crackling of
the blaze.
Prudence turned to watch her, pushing farther back a little white cap
which pressed upon her short curls; for she was a little Puritan maiden,
living in the town of Plymouth, and it was not the present year of our
Lord, but about two hundred and eighty-four years ago. She was a very
different Prudence from what she would have been if she had been living
now, and it was a very different Plymouth from the pleasant town we know
to-day, with its many houses climbing up the hill, and the busy people
in its streets. There were only seven houses then, and they stood in one
line leading to the water, and there was but one building besides--a
square wooden affair with palisades, which served as a church on
Sundays, a fort when enemies were feared, and a storehouse all the
time. Beyond these nothing could be seen but woods--trackless, unknown
forests--and, away to the east, the ocean, where the waves were booming
with a lonesome sound.
It was not quite a year before that Prudence's father had stood with the
other brave colonists on the deck of the _Mayflower_, and had looked
with eager eyes upon the shore of the New World. This first year in
Massachusetts had on the whole been a happy one for Prudence. During the
cold winter which followed their landing, she had indeed cast longing
thoughts toward the home in Holland which they had left; and especially
did she long for the Dutch home when she was hungry, and the provisions
which had been brought on the ship were scanty; but she had forgotten
all such longings in the bounty given by the summer, and now it seemed
to her there was no more beautiful place in the world than this New
England.
It was Prudence's father who opened the door and came in, carrying on
his shoulder an ax with which he had been felling trees for the winter's
fuel. Prudence never could get over the queer feeling it gave her to see
her father thus employed. When they lived in Holland, he was always
writing and studying in books of many languages, but here he did little
else than work in the fields, for it was only so that the early settlers
obtained their daily bread. He leaned his ax in a corner, and came
toward the fire, rubbing his hands to get out the cold.
"I have news for you, dear heart, to-night," he said to his wife. "I
have just come from the granary, and indeed there is goodly store laid
up of corn and rye, and game that has been shot in the forest. The
children's mouths will not hunger this winter."
"Praised be the Lord!" replied his wife, fervently. "But what is your
news?"
"The governor hath decided to hold a thanksgiving for the bountiful
harvest, and on the appointed day is a great feast to be spread; and he
hath sent a messenger to bid Massasoit to break bread with us."
"Massasoit the Indian?"
"Ay; but a friendly Indian. He will come, and many of his braves with
him. You will be kept busy, my heart, with the other housewives to bake
sufficient food for this company."
"Oh, mother, _may_ I go?" cried Prudence, her eyes dancing with
excitement, clutching at her mother's skirts; but her father continued:
"How now, Mehitable? The news of a coming feast does not seem to make
you merry as it was wont to do in Holland."
Mehitable was grave, and there was even a tear in her eye.
"I know," cried Joel, who was two years older than Prudence; "she is
thinking of John Andrews, who is across the sea."
But the father frowned, and the mother said, "Peace, foolish children!"
as she placed the porridge on the table.