The boys were trained in woodcraft. They learned the names and habits of wild animals. They could find their way alone through dense forests; and they could see farther and hear better than any boys we know.
The girls were taught by their mothers to be modest and industrious. They made beautiful beadwork to trim dresses and moccasins. They could set up a wigwam, prepare food, and keep a clean and orderly home.
This little book tells how children lived and played long ago in the wild-rice country. Their tribe was then at peace with the fierce Indians farther west. A few men of the village had traveled north with furs, but the children had never seen a white man.
The old-time life of the Indians is ended. But there are camps in the unsettled lands of the wild-rice region where many strange customs can still be seen; where the Indian drum is heard, and the women gather wild rice as in the olden time.
STORIES AND STORY-TELLERS
The Indians of long ago had no books and no schools; but each tribe had its story-tellers, who went from one wigwam to another. Everywhere they were welcomed by old and young and begged to return.
The stories were told and retold by their hearers until learned. Indian mothers quieted their fretful little ones by stories and songs just as other mothers have always done.
The Indian stories are strange, and some are very beautiful. There are wonderful tales of the sun, moon, and stars; of animals and birds and trees; of the thunder and the lightning and the winds.