Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1905-04-28

nonsense. is written and read about
the American girl. so called. which is
really about no American girl at all,
strictly speaking, but about an exotic
girl, a girl whose race came o
across the seas, thousands OF miles to
the eastward of America. This girl.
blonde or brunette, all or short. slender
or stout. dark eyed or with eyes OF
blue, is always a white girl.
We who have invaded the continent
10 which she and her race are the nat
ural heirs call the real American girl
the indian girl. She is rarely the he
rome of our romances. and our society
artists, our Glbsons and our Christys,
never make her the subject OF their
drawings. He skin is brown, with q
coppery tinge; her hair Is black and
With never a curl or a wave, n her
eyes are always dark. We-who are
so superior-sometimes call her a
young squaw.
But this real American girl is a
very interesting creature, nevertheless.
The women missionaries. who OF all
white people knew her best, say she
Is very timid, blu s~toical; often feel
ing that ~disagreeable feeling we call
lear without showing IL. For she, as
we'll as her bother. has been taught
from her mothers breast that to show
fear is 10 show weakness, which is
something of which TO be deeply
ashamed. She is never hysterical and
she seldom or never betrays any nery-
This real American girl Is coy and
reserved, especially when any of the
exotic. 20 called Americans are in evil
dence. She takes love making very
seriously. She herself has little TO do
with it. Her father generally chooses
her husband for her. When an Indian
hYDNra Sanc tho 4OiYi hn t-anfu fHr hfo
wife he must show his sincerity by
making gifts TO her father. II h man
foes not want the girl enough to give
up the pony or a blanket he fs con-
sidered a trifier and sent away. But
If his gifts are of sufficient value. and
IL he showc some bravery and sense,
he is accepted for the daughter.
Delights in Her Children.
After marriage an Indian woman's
greatest delight is in her children. Her
household duties are not heavy. She
must cook, fetch wood and water. make
plaques OF straw and baskets and weave
a little. There is much time left for
the care Of her little Indians. She en-
broiders wonderful beaded suits for
them, and gaudy little moccasins,
working a thousand different thoughts
into the designs she originates, and
she has sweet lullabys to sing for them,
telling of strange gods In the west from
which, long ago, the Indian people
came and TO which they shall return
again.
She makes for her children little
dolls OF wood and cloth and baskets of
birch bark and helps them with their
games and teaches them TO weave and
to sew. When an indian baby dies, in
some tribes, its mother carries it's era
die on her back until 1t shall have
grown old enough to find it's way alone
TO paradise.
The real American girl is short and
stocky. When she is uncivilized she
is untidy. Her clothes are clumsily
fastened, her hair lis rough and she is
not clean. She is very fond Of personal
adornment, however, and, possibly, she
considers her many colored blanket
n her strings of bright beads much
more attractive than the civilized In
dian girls neat and clean cotton
clothes.
Perhaps If 1t was as difficult for the
exotic American woman to get water
as Ii is for some of the Indian women
they would be no more cayeful about
personal cleanliness than the aborigi-
nal women generally are. Many Indian
tribes live In dry and arid regions.
Their villages are situated on the
sides of washes and they seldom
a wells or reservoirs, depending on
the generally scanty stream IN the
wash for the water supply.
When water Is obtained at the cost
only of long tranps owe mountains, 1t
cannot be wondered at that the Moki
woman cares little for personal neat
ness and cleanliness, and though the
conditions In some of the tribes are not
so bad as In the Moki tribe, still water
is almost always scarce and must gem
orally be carried a long distance. When
water comes to the Indian woman,
however, she uses it freely and with
evident delight. AT the foot of one of
the mesas a mission recently estab-
lished a washhouse with modern baths
and washtubs. Not only did the wom-
en- flock there OF their own accord, but
they brought their clothes and chill
dren with them and had a general
cleaning time.
They Die Of Ho~mesickness.