Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1901-04-16
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Ga@COfner
Indian Child Life.

There is not so much difference after
all between Indian and white children.
The Indian boy of the Flathead reser-
vation, writes Montana correspon-
dent, has his miniature bow with its
diminutiye quiver of arrows and be-
strides stick and gallops to the chase;
later, when he has attained sufficient
length Of limb to bestride cayuse, he
is given pony, which succeeds the
stick as steed, though it has not much
more rapid powers of locomotion. His
sports resemble in many respects those
of his white brother. He plays form
of Shiny" he hunts imaginary deer
and bear and buffalo, and it is reason
able to suppose that he engages in war
fare with the trespassing pale face, and
routs him utterly from the hunting
grounds of his fathers. He is in every
respect a boy, and a boy is about the
same sort of an animal no matter where
he is found, whether it be in tepee or
in a mansion.
The Indian girl, too, has her quiet
play, as does her white sister. She has
her dolls-she calls them papooses-
her mother finds time to make for her
a tiny cradle board, which she swings
across her back and ''packs" her crude
babies of wood or of buckskin. But
her playtime is of shorter duration than
that of her brother. She early learns
the lesson of stolid obedience to the
male members of the family. She is
the same servant of her big brothers
that her mother is of her father. But
she knows nothing different and she
accepts with Indian stoicism.
If you can watch Indian children at
play, yourself unobserved by them
for they are extremely shy-you will
see that there Is not much difference
between their amusements and those of
the children that you see at home. The
pony, the dog, the chickens, the pigs
all furnish amusement for the little
reds. They practice throwing the rope
at the dog and the pig, and they find
in the chickens excellent moving tar
gets for their bows and arrows.
Just as the parents of prospective
Presidents and first ladies of the land
delight to array their youngsters in at
tractive raiment, so the Indian parent
finds pleasure in clothing his children
in the best that he can purchase. An
Indian child dressed for holiday is
| picturesque object. He is covered with
beads and fringe and fur and trinkets.
He is brave in epitome and his sister
is a reduced copy of her mother.
| : Then there is another striking SINH
larity between the Indian child and his
| white fellow There is nothing that he
likes better than story. His mother,
when he is baby, croons to him the
song that her mother sang to her in
infancy, and it is as universal among
| these people as Rock-a-by-Baby
among white mothers. When he is
older his mother tells him the interest
ing stories of the coyote, the wolf and
the bear-of folk lore of his tribe. AS
he becomes old enough to attract the
attention of his father, the latter oc-
casionally tells him stories of the old
time prowess of his tribal chiefs, of
their welfare and their triumphs of the
chase. The Pickering light of the
tepee fire throws shadows which his i'm
agination easily transforms into war
riors and hunters of mighty valor. And
SO the boy grows up. If you know
what white boys are, you know what
| little Indians are, for boys are boys.