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Eastman, Charles A., 1858-1939

"Old Indian Days"


Perhaps there is water to be fetched in bags
made from the dried pericardium of an animal;
the girl brings some in a smaller water-bag.
When her mother goes for wood she carries one
or two sticks on her back. She pitches her play
teepee to form an exact copy of her mother's.
Her little belongings are nearly all practical,
and her very play is real!
Thus, before she is ten years old, Winona be-
gins to see life honestly and in earnest; to con-
sider herself a factor in the life of her people--a
link in the genealogy of her race. Yet her effort
is not forced, her work not done from necessity;
it is normal and a development of the play-in-
stinct of the young creature. This sort of train-
ing leads very early to a genuine desire to serve
and to do for others. The little Winona loves
to give and to please; to be generous and gra-
cious. There is no thought of trafficking or
economizing in labor and in love.
"Mother, I want to be like the beavers, the
ants, and the spiders, because my grandmother
says those are the people most worthy of imita-
tion for their industry.


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