When the people from the Old World first settled in this country,
they found a race here whom they called Indians. This same race still
inhabit this country, but they are few in numbers as compared with the
whites, and they live mostly in the far West.
The Indians then did not dress like those you may see now, but their
faces and figures have not changed very much. They have a dark skin,
straight, black hair, black eyes, high cheek-bones, flat noses, white
teeth, and wear no beards. In stature they are tall and straight.
The houses in which the Indians lived were not at all like our homes,
and they were called huts or wigwams. These wigwams were sometimes
made of poles set in the ground in a circle. But when a large hut was
wanted, the poles were planted in two long rows. The poles were bent
over at the top, then fastened together and all covered with bark.
Sometimes the poles were driven into the ground in such a way that they
met at the top. A hole was left for smoke near the top, and the rest of
the pole frame was covered with bark on the outside and with skins on
the inside.
The Indians had no furniture, not even beds, and every one sat and
slept on skins or on mats made from rushes by the squaws. These mats
and skins were kept upon the ground, but each person had a place for
his own.
The food of the Indians consisted of fish and game, together with such
fruits and nuts as they were able to pick and gather, besides the corn
for cakes. Potatoes and corn are both natives of this country and were
first used by the Indians. For drinking purposes, water was commonly
used, but they made a great many drinks with berries, leaves, and roots.
The faces of the Indians were frequently painted in many colors, and
to make the paint last long, holes were sometimes pricked into the skin
by means of thorns. The painting then was much like the tattooing done
now in many islands of the sea. Sometimes they tattooed in this way
nearly the whole of their bodies.
In the warm parts of the country they wore little in the way of dress,
often no more than a kind of short skirt which did not reach to the
knees; but they took great delight in having large strings of beads
round their necks, besides birds’ claws, squirrels’ heads, and the
like. Where it was colder, bearskins were worn in winter, with the fur
left on the pelt. In summer lighter skins were chosen, and sometimes
the fur was taken off. Large garments were, in the main, made from the
skins of the otter, beaver, or raccoon. The men had a sort of leather
breeches which they used when hunting, and they wore moccasins for
shoes.
Feathers, sometimes in head-dresses, sometimes in garments, were used
by the Indians, to show degrees of honor won in war. Bows and arrows
were used by them for hunting, and likewise for weapons to defend
themselves. The work of making bows and arrows must have taken a great
deal of time, for the arrow shafts were whittled out of wood, and the
arrow-heads were chipped out of flint and other stones. They used
spears with which to fish, as well as hooks and lines.
The wood for their boats was obtained by burning down trees near the
ground, and then burning off the branches and tops. In this way they
managed to get logs the right length, and then they burned them out on
one side, after which they scraped out the charred parts with shells.
These made very strong boats. A lighter canoe was built of a frame
covered with bark.
In times of peace the Indians hunted and fished. Such a thing as a
store or market was not needed. Each family had to catch all the fish
or kill all the game that might be required for its wants. The boys
early learned the art of fishing and hunting, and in summer they fished
from the shore or from a canoe. In winter they bored holes through
the ice and used a hook and line or a long spear. This spear, at the
pointed end, was shaped like a fish.
Many stories are told how these hunters and fishermen by tricks took
their game. Sometimes they would drive a whole herd of deer or buffalo
out upon a narrow neck of land running far into the water, and then cut
off all escape by building a row of fires across the neck. In this way
they kept the herd together until they killed all they wanted.
The war-dance was a great thing among Indians, and they thought the
only way to get honor was by following the war-path. Therefore many
hours were spent in learning war-dances and in being able to hit a
small mark a great way off with the bow and arrow. By the time an
Indian lad reached sixteen and was able to do these things well, he
was old enough to go to war and to help fight the battles which so
often took place among the tribes.
Hunting and fishing and going to war were, however, not all the things
that the Indians did. They had many sports and games for children, and
also many for those who were grown up. They played ball on the grass,
a game like hockey with sticks on the ice, and lacrosse, which we have
now adopted as our national game.--SELECTED.