CUSTOMS OF KICKAPOO, SEMINOLE, AND OTHER TRIBES
The Kickapoo Indians first lived in what is now Illinois. Their present home is in the Indian Territory. One of their peculiar customs is that they have a tribe whipper who makes his weekly rounds with his whip to punish children, and in this way the parents save themselves from the pain of inflicting punishment upon their children. Indians dislike rudeness or noisy behavior when there should be quiet. Fire-water, as they call whiskey, makes them forget the manners their parents taught them.
Many of the Seminole Indians live in the Everglades of Florida. They are a tall, dignified, intelligent race, and resent the visits of white people unless it is shown that the visitor is a friend, for they have been driven to these Everglades by reason of conquering whites. They live in roofed huts and cultivate several kinds of crops. They once owned rich lands in upper Florida and Alabama. Their language is said to be very musical. [[45]]
The Cherokee and Natchez tribes once lived in Mississippi and Louisiana. They were very wise in war and had many things which they manufactured in times of peace. They carved curious shell ornaments, which are often found in southern mounds.
The Flathead Indians of the west bind a piece of stiff board upon the forehead of their papooses. The child’s head flattens as it grows, and he carries his race mark through life.
The Blackfoot Indians were so called because during a retreat the burnt prairie grass stained their moccasins as black as the blackest cayuse or pony.
The term Digger Indians has been given to various tribes conquered and driven from their fishing and hunting grounds. They live almost wholly upon roots of weeds or the few insects and small animals found in the plains of eastern Utah and the surrounding country. The stronger tribes will not let them fish in lake or stream, and their whole life is miserable.
The Indians of California were originally very brave and warlike, but the remnants of the tribes are broken in spirit and seem broken-hearted. Those which have drifted or have been driven by whites and red men into the peninsula of southern California are much like the Diggers.
The different tribes and nations scattered over America seemed to have known much about metals, [[46]]although they used stone arrow points and stone axes when the first explorers visited their homes.
The copper mines of Lake Superior show yet where the Indians have mined in them. Gold and silver ornaments were used in many tribes to decorate the braves and their squaws. Shells were carved with sharp tools and used as ornaments, or cut small into wampum.
Arrowheads were of flint or jasper and were made by the arrow makers of the tribe. It is said each nation had its own shape of arrowhead. Some preferred very small points; some chose the larger ones.
The early races of white people in all ancient lands used stone for many purposes. This first period has been called the Stone Age; this was followed by the Copper Age; then came the Iron Age. The Indians do not seem to have used iron before white men came, and were living in what history would call the Stone Age. [[47]]
