e-fringed, fresh from the mountains, flows by the
camp--a camp that in earlier times was pitched upon some tableland as an
outlook for the enemy, white or red. Horses are browsing near at hand or
far afield; old warriors and medicine men sit in the shade and smoke the
long-stemmed, red sandstone pipe, and tell of the days of yore. Gayly
clad figures dart hither and yon as the women are bent upon their tasks.
Great loads of wood are brought into camp on an Indian woman's back. She
carries water from the river, bakes the cake, upturned against the fire,
boils the coffee and then all are seated on the ground when they partake
of jerked beef, coffee, bread, and berries. Hands are better than knives
and forks, one cup answers for many, and the strip of dried beef is passed
along that all may cut off his desired portion. A noisy, gleeful group of
children play with their dolls and their dogs--dogs that are made to serve
as beasts of burden and instruments of torture. At night beds are made on
the ground around the interior circle of the tepee and the chill of frost
is driven out by a fire in the very centre--the most perfectly ventilated
structure in the world--the air passing underneath the edge of the tepee in
the loop where it is tied at the bottom of the poles, then passing on out
through the opening at the top, carrying with it all dust and smoke. The
Indian never knew anything about tuberculosis until the white man confined
him in log cabins where a score of people live in one room, the cracks and
keyhole entirely filled, and where they breath each other over times
without number. Within the tepee the chief has the place of honour. A
rest is made with supports like an easel. A lattice-work of slender willow
rods passed down the front, which is covered by a long strip of buffalo
hide. Against this the chief rests. Each member of the family has his
allotted place inside the lodge and he may decorate his own section
according to ability or fancy. Here the warrior hangs his war-bonnet and
sometimes records his achievements in the chase or on the warpath. Lying
all about the circle are many highly coloured parflesche bags containing
the minor details of dress or any personal possession. Many of the tepees
in an Indian village are embellished with Indian paintings setting forth
the heroic deeds of the warriors who abide in the lodge. The figures are
often grotesque and without parallel in the realm of art. The med