Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-07-02
PLAYING INDIAN.
BALD EAGLE" TELLS ABOUT ERNEST
THOMPSON sETON'S "woODCRAFT-
ERStLTOTEMS
Copyright. 1904, by K. N. BirdsalI.)

THOMPSON SETON'S 'WOODCRAFT-
ERSr-TOTEMS.
Copyright, 1904, by K. n. Birdsali.)
After making or buying bow and arrows,
hunting shirt leggins and tepee, the great
est part of the preparation is done. The
decoration of the tepee may be commenced
before going into camp and finished later.
when the council decides upon certain
drawings or paintings that will help tell
the history and experience of the tribe.
But 1t is WELL while the tepee is lying fiat
and smooth. to draw certain lines and lay
in the border decorations. Use o a CEN
ter and with string seven feet long make
a half-circle. Make three other half-circles.
using the string six and a half three and
two and half feet, respectively. This will
give you two narrow bands six inches
wide, with space three and half feet
between. In the narrow spaces paint any
kind Of spots that may suit your fancy. In
the middle of the larger space a one-foot
circle may be made in which to draw the
totems Of the tribe. The rest Of the wide
space had better be saved for pictures of
tribal history. All lines may be drawn at
first either with pencil or with burnt
stick. They should then be gone over with
a rather small brush. using paint Of any
color you like. The outlines should be In
some dark color.
The totem for the tribe must be chosen
with great care. 1t will probably be sug-
gested by the name Of the tribe, and this
name may be selected before the encamp-
nent. or the tribe may wait until some
thing happens to give it a name.
Mr.. Seton tells of a tribe that agreed to
take the name Of the first living wild thing
they saw and knew the name of. 1t hap
pened to be blue heron that they started
in a swamp. This gave them a tribe name.
a totem and war cry-'Hurr-Blue
Heron
Another tribe that had not chosen a
name was just setting up it's tepee when
large eagle came soaring overhead. This
was welcomed as a good omen, and the
council declared that the eagle should be
the tribes totem and its name.
Little Turtle" Gray Wolf" "Blue Buff
falo." Red Buffalo RED TRAIL king
Bird" white Hawk" are few good tribe
of historical Indians that once roamed over
the same hunting ground, such as the Sin
ava tribe.
suitable totem for a Buffalo tribe would
be the head of the animal. painted in the
proper color-blue or red, as the case may
be. The totem of the whole Woodcraft
nation is the white or silver buffalo, and
they have simple silver badge showing
buffalo head. The Little Turtle tribe uses
the figure of a turtle. with head, tall and
feet extended beyond the shell. The choos
ing of the tribe name and totem is proposed
for one of the points of competition this
week. Let every warrior suggest a tribe
and let the council decide which Is best.
Besides the tribe name and totem each
warrior chooses for himself a name and
totem. Mr.. Seton calls himself Black Wolf
(Chunka Sapa), and when writing his name
always adds his totem. the foot print of the
wolf. Chief Copper Eagle uses the eagle
rampant. that is, with head erect and wings
extended Bald Eagle uses the eagles head
No al ION, Of OF
each warrior will make another point of
competition for this week.
Now, while all this preparation Is going
on every woodcrafter will keep up great
thinking about the best place to camp.
That is a very important thing to decide.
Last summer a tenderfoot tribe planned
to go to one of the small lakes within nifty
miles of New York city to play Indian. In
order to save one railroad fare, and save
time. they decided to risk making all ar
rangements after the party reached the
place. When they got to the railroad sta
ton they found that desirable camping
places along the lake shore were controlled
by an improvement company. who were not
in the business either for pleasure or for
their health. The young woodcrafters also
found that boat rent was very high and
that provisions could be gotten only by
steamboat with monopoly on the bust
ness and corner on the prices. Think OF
a tribe of warriors throwing up their hands
the very first thing, But there was no easy
spite Of such an unfortunate start, but this
experience Is mentioned to show how not
to do It,
Complete your plans as far as possible
before the tribe actually starts This is
the only safe way. In selecting place to
go several things must be kept In mind
You ought to have woods, both for the
games and to make the play more Indian
like: you ought to have either lake or
a river because so many Of the athletic
contests and sports include boating and
swimming and you must have good air 1t
Is not necessary to go to watering place.
II you go to lake that has a summer re-
sort choose camping site well away from
hotels and cottages.
When you remember that you will need to
cut twelve or more fine poles for every te-
pee and several fine-inch timbers for the
beds and that you will burn considerable
dry wood for your camp fires. you will see
why you ought to have the owners permis-
sion to camp In his woods. You will also
understand why he has right to charge
something But in any out-of-the-way place
the charge for dozen woodcrafters should
not be over s. a week.
Now while Ii Is desirable to be out In the
wild away from curious or meddlesome
persons it is not well to be too far away
from provisions. A farm house within easy
walking distance may be considered piece
of good luck. There you can go for milk.
eggs potatoes, bread and butter: you will
not use much besides. If you are also with
In walking distance of grocery 1t will
not be necessary to carry any provisions
with you and that will simplify the prep
aration very much BALD EAGLE.
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