Part 7 (2/2)

Long, long ago, before Columbus found America, the Indians lived where we live now, There were no cities or houses then, such as we have.

There were no farms or gardens or fences or roads. A large part of the country was covered with trees. The rest was great gra.s.s plains and swamps.

The Indians built their houses where they pleased, beside the rivers or near the mountains or on the wide plains. What sort of houses did they live in? They lived in tents made of skins. The Indian tents were called wigwams.

[Ill.u.s.tration: An Indian Wigwam.]

There were many tribes of Indians. Each tribe had a great many men and women and children. Some of the tribes lived in the north, some in the south, some near the sea. In nearly every part of the country there were Indian tribes. Often some of the tribes went to war with other tribes. They fought with bows and arrows and tomahawks. The tomahawk was a sort of hatchet. The head of it was made of a stone with a sharp edge.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Indian Bow and Arrows.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Tomahawks.]

The Indians were very cruel in war. When they killed a man, they cut the skin and hair off the top of his head. This was called scalping.

When about to go to war, they painted their faces to make themselves look very fierce. They also wore a band around their heads, and in these they stuck some long feathers.

There are Indians still in some parts of our country, and many of them live in wigwams. They sleep in these wigwams, but they cook their food outside. They have no coal or stoves or fire-places. Instead of coal they use wood and dried gra.s.s. They make their fire on the ground.

Their food is very simple. They have meat and fish and berries, and cakes made of corn. The meat they eat is the flesh of the deer and other wild animals.

[Ill.u.s.tration: An Indian Chief.]

The Indians are of a copper color. They are sometimes called ”Red Men.” They have high cheek bones, black eyes, and straight black hair.

The Indian men spend their time hunting and fis.h.i.+ng. They do not have bows and arrows now. They shoot with guns as white men do.

The Indian women do all the work. They cook the food, make the clothes, and plant the corn. They also put up the wigwams and take them down.

For the Indians do not live always in the same place, but often move about.

An Indian woman is called a squaw, and an Indian baby is called a pa-poose'. You would wonder if you saw the Indian baby's cradle. It is a bag made of skin fixed to a flat board. It is just large enough for baby to fit in. The little papoose is wrapped up warm and put into the bag. The mother carries the baby on her back in this cradle.

Often she hangs the cradle up on a branch of a tree. Then the little red baby swings while its mother is cooking or working in the field.

[Ill.u.s.tration: An Indian Baby.]

The men, women, and children wear clothes made of skin. They often wear blankets as shawls are worn by white people. Their shoes are made of deerskin and have no soles. They are called moccasins.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Moccasins.]

In many places the Indians now have schools, and the little Indian boys and girls go to school every day. Our government has sent teachers to teach them. They learn to read and write and count.

But the Indian boys and girls learn a great many things at home. Their fathers tell them about birds and beasts and trees and rivers. And they teach the boys to hunt and fish, and train them up to be brave in war.

The Indian boys and girls have a great many games. The boys play with bows and arrows. They play ”blindman's buff,” and ”hunt the slipper,”

and handball and football. The girls take part in the football. One of their games is the ”stick and ring” game. The ring is made of skin and is sometimes covered with beads. Each boy has a stick, and he throws it at the ring while it is rolling along the ground. The game is to send the stick through the ring. Every boy tries to strike every other boy's stick to stop it from going through the ring.

The Indian boys sometimes play at fighting battles. They form themselves into two armies, and one army fights against the other.

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