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Eastman, Charles A., 1858-1939

"Old Indian Days"


So Winona receives her individual name of
Tatiyopa, or Her Door. It is symbolic, like
most Indian names, and implies that the door
of the bearer is hospitable and her home attrac-
tive.
The two grandmothers, who have carried the
little maiden upon their backs, now tell and sing
to her by turns all the legends of their most noted
female ancestors, from the twin sisters of the
old story, the maidens who married among the
star people of the sky, down to their own
mothers. All her lullabies are feminine, and
designed to impress upon her tender mind the
life and duties of her sex.
As soon as she is old enough to play with
dolls she plays mother in all seriousness and
gravity. She is dressed like a miniature woman
(and her dolls are clad likewise), in garments
of doeskin to her ankles, adorned with long
fringes, embroidered with porcupine quills, and
dyed with root dyes in various colors. Her lit-
tle blanket or robe, with which she shyly drapes
or screens her head and shoulders, is the skin
of a buffalo calf or a deer, soft, white, embroi-
dered on the smooth side, and often with the
head and hoofs left on.


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