Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1906-08-30
THE
U VSTATE of HElRESSES


Thus it is the children of Okla
homa have had parents able to give
them the advantages of an educa-
tion. While the model schools of the
State have fitted the boys for farm
| ing, trades and business, and some
for professions, the Indian mothers
have willingly agreed to the wish of
| the fathers that the girls should be
educated according to white ideas.
Of the $50 schools which have
been established by the five tribes
exclusively for their children, several
are intended especially for instruc-
tion in music, art, needlework, dane
! ing and other branches which are
supposed to put the finishing touches
on girl and fit her for society.
The Indian girl is not only devel-
oped in mind, but in body, If neces-
sary, for physical culture is as popu-
lar out on the prairie as at Vassar or
at Wellesley. When she leaves school
and enters the real world she has
had most if not all the opportunities
which are afforded the Eastern girl
whose father has a thick pocketbook.
1t is this sort of life that has devel-
oped the prairie maiden until she Is
no longer the heroine pictured by
writer's as clad in blanket and moe
casins-a shy creature of nature with
a feather in her hair.
Instead of the blanket, she dons
the shirt waist and walking skirt
for every day use and has her train
gown for formal occasions like all
her white sisters. The feather in the
hair has been replaced by high
backed comb or perhaps an aigrette
when she goes out to an evening en-
tertainment A moccasin in Okla
homa is about as rare as snow
storm. Anyone may walk the streets
of Guthrie, MuskOgee, Ardmore or
any other city of the new State and
see women of half blood more taste
fully and often more richly dressed
than the women in the average West
ern city. They know what to wear
and how to wear it.
Another thing that commands at
tention is the genuine beauty OF
many of the wOmen-nOt the bizarre
beauty of the savage, but the attrac-
tiveness of refinement and intelli-
gence. These children of white faith
ers and dark hued mothers have fea-
lures which interest artists. While
they have inherited the rich warm
tints and supple figures OF their
mothers, among them can be seen
girls who would create sensation on
the stage with the blue eyes and fair
skin of their Swedish or German
father, yet retaining the raven black
hair and the graceful carriage of the
Indian.
They excel in something besides
looks, however. Among them are
girls who have made their mark In
business and the professions.
One of the principal magazines in
Oklahoma is edited by a part Chero-
kee girl just in her twenties; several
of the leading stores in Muskogee
and Guthrie have these women as
managers. If necessary they can
make dresses and hats for others as
we'll as for themselves.
They teach music as we'll as other
branches in the schools but perhaps
in domestic life they best display
their ability
Many woman who has become
mistress of home in the new State
was born in a cabin in a clearing.
where her father and his Indian wife
were eking out their existence on
few acres reclaimed from the wood
land or range grass. With strong
body and good constitution she eager
ly availed herself of the privileges
of the school which she could attend,
and further advanced herself by
home study, until she had matured
into an attractive woman mentally as
we'll as physically.-New York Sun.