Just then Running Turtle came out of hiding, and he started to laugh with the others.
LITTLE FIRE CLOUD’S DREAM
The Delawares were a peaceful tribe, hunting and fishing in their rich valley and not bothering their neighbors, for they had plenty and needed little more than they were able to obtain themselves with their strong bows and sharp arrows and their well-kept fishing gear.
It was late spring, and one day as Little Fire Cloud romped and played in the village his father called to him.
“Come, Little Fire Cloud, it is time we built a new canoe. Shortly we shall be needing a new canoe and if we do not start work now it will not be ready when the time comes to leave camp.”
So father and son started out to gather the materials to make a fine new canoe.
The Indians of the forest and lakes depended a great deal upon the canoe and were wise enough to construct them of material that was easy to obtain. Light cedar made the ribs and the planking of the canoe, and over this the Indians stretched a tight cover of birch bark. Then they took spruce roots and split them and these they used to sew the seams of the canoe together. They then would calk the spaces with a tarlike substance which was made from pine pitch and soot. When finished the product was firm and sturdy, but above all if the canoe should become injured in any way, the materials were always handy in the forest with which to make repairs.
Finally Little Fire Cloud and his father had gathered all the necessary equipment together and the work on the canoe was started. Father and son worked very hard at the job, and a few days later the canoe was completed. As the two finished their work they stood back to admire the job and Little Fire Cloud said,
“Is it not beautiful, father? It is the most beautiful canoe I have ever seen either in our own village or any of our neighbors.”
“Yes, Little Fire Cloud, it really is a beautiful canoe and one which we can be proud of.”